


The Mournling

by HopeftJosie



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-26
Updated: 2021-02-12
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:53:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 34
Words: 56,409
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24393829
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HopeftJosie/pseuds/HopeftJosie
Summary: Hope Mikaelson is captured by a new monster on campus called the 'Mournling'. Its specialty is forcing vampire's to experience their worst nightmares, ones so horrific that they want to turn off their humanity - and Hope does just that.Josie decides that she must do everything in her power to make the tribrid turn her humanity back on...but will she?
Relationships: Hope Mikaelson/Josie Saltzman
Comments: 250
Kudos: 1267





	1. Chapter 1

Hope Mikaelson was born a miracle: the daughter of Klaus Mikaelson, an Original vampire who was over a thousand years old and Hayley Marshall, the Alpha of the Crescent Wolf pack. Her Grandmother, Esther, was one of the most powerful witches to have ever lived – she was the creator of the Original vampires.

Therefore, Hope learnt when growing up the significance behind being the world’s only Tribrid. She was taught of the struggle that would come with her first transformation into being a werewolf, and how painful that experience would be – but she also knew that it would get easier with every full moon that would grace the sky. In the end she figured out a loophole into how control her transformations, and suddenly being a werewolf wasn’t such a curse anymore.

Being a Witch was something she was thoroughly proud of. She felt as though this took her back to her distant roots, reminding her of the Grandmother that she never got to meet; she didn’t like the sound of her very much, but her father taught her that family meant: ‘Always and forever’, and she found herself embracing the power within her.  
Becoming a vampire was something Hope thought she would never have to deal with; though her parents still felt compelled to teach her the means behind it. She respectively listened to everything they had to say: ‘the hunger would be unbearable’, ‘every single sense is heightened – along with every emotion’, ‘there will be times when you will want to just turn off your humanity...don’t. It’s easy to do that, but it’s almost impossible to turn it back on’.

They were all the key things that she remembered from the many conversations she endured, naively thinking that being a vampire would never be an issue for her. She would have to do die first. 

It wasn’t that she felt invincible, it was just something that she could never comprehend happening. She was a Witch, a Werewolf...a Tribid. She had the power that she needed to protect herself, along with a school full of supernatural’s if she needed the backup.

So to sum it up: Hope Mikaelson had been a Witch for seventeen years, a werewolf for three...and a vampire for about ten minutes.  
There was a new monster in town. It was called a Mournling. It specialised in shredding vampires down to nothing but bare emotion, and then inflicting pain upon them to such an extent that they would want to just ‘turn it off’.

It knew how to get inside their heads and make them come face to face with their worst nightmares – witnessing the cruel deaths of everyone and anyone they have ever loved.  
Hope had managed to get almost everyone out of the school – she felt as though vampires were a priority with this one, and made sure all of them were on the first bus out of here.

Alaric and the twins had managed to make Hope approve of their stay, but the Mournling had managed to get its hands on the Tribid. Hope doesn’t remember anything past the creature getting its hands on her throat, and she remembers hearing a rather loud snap. 

She’d not long woken up in the transformation chamber the school has for newbie werewolves. She wasn’t very fond of it; it was essentially a tiny prison cell.  
The Tribid woke to immense hunger. It was one of many things that she couldn’t shake from her mind. She could hear the sound of a woodpecker continuously tapping its peak against a tree. It was so clear that she may as well have been sitting right beneath the branch. She could feel colossal anger and frustration, sadness and frightfulness. Where were the Saltzmans? Where they okay?

“Finally,” The Mournling bellowed, making his way down the steps and into the chamber. “Sleeping beauty awakens.”

Hope simply clenched her jaw in response. She could feel the veins just beneath her eyes beginning to flicker, her fangs beginning to expand and sharpen. She rang her tongue along them, examining the extent of the point.

“You’ll get used to them.” The Mournling said. “Probably learn to be thankful for them, actually.”

Hope was yet to look at him. She kept her gazed fixed on the concrete floor below her instead. She felt this overwhelming sense of defeat; this was the first monster that had completely backed her into a corner. With Malivore and the Necromancer, she had at least found a way – albeit a compromise at least. How had the Mournling slipped right through her fingers?

“You’re not going to be much fun like this,” The creature sighed. “I guess that’s why I’m here.”

The tribid finally looked up at him now. He appeared completely normal – a young adult who could very easily pass as a normal student at the school. The Mournling bent down to Hope’s level, cocking his head sideways. “I’ll break some things down to you, though I’m sure you already know a lot about me,” He commented, causing Hope to cringe at his arrogance. “I can get into your head with one simple word; and whilst I’m in there, I can cause unspeakable harm to your new, very fragile, humanity.” He rose from his position and instead rested his back against the bars of the cell.

Hope suddenly felt overwhelming hunger again. She threw her head back at the ache, her mouth falling open and allowing the escape of a fragile whimper. Her tongue pressed against the point of one of the fangs in her mouth, accidentally breaking the flesh ever so slightly and causing the smallest trickle of blood to drip down her throat.  
She sighed in pleasure at first – but something wasn’t right. She could feel a lump forming in her oesophagus, one that she had felt before. The last time she had vomited was after one too many drinks at a party that had been thrown in the woods (courtesy of the wolves) two months ago. She’d learnt her lesson then, realising that unlike her father, she couldn’t hold down her whisky.

Black bile spilled from her stomach and onto the floor beside her. Luckily, it didn’t last long – and she could go back to resting her head against the wall. It was starting to feel quite heavy on her shoulders.

The Mournling clicked his tongue, and to Hope it sounded like the loudest death rattle she had ever heard. She squeezed her eyes shut. “Invadenti,” She heard.

Hope’s vision was flooded with images of Landon. She instantly tried to open her eyes, but nothing changed. Landon was standing in front of her, crouched to her level and looking at her intently. 

“Hope,” He said softly. His eyes were full of concern as he reached out to run a slender finger down the side of cheek. The realness of it made Hope feel sick, only now properly realising the extent of the damage this monster could inflict.

She could smell his cologne; feel the tenderness of his touch against her face. She could even see the pores in his skin. Hope began to fear just how genuine this felt.  
Her thoughts were brought to an abrupt halt when Landon’s eyes widened and blood began to spill from his mouth. Looking down, Hope noticed the golden arrow that had been thrust into his heart – and then she saw the Mournling’s hand keeping it in place.

Almost as if Hope couldn’t fathom that it was all an illusion, she let out an almost deafening scream. She immediately tried to aid the Phoenix, but she couldn’t. It was suddenly like there was a barrier between them.

Landon then faded him from her vision. The tribrid let out a helpless whimper. “No, no.” She whispered to herself.

“Your mother died in front of you once,” The Mournling said. “Albeit, you were unconscious for it. So you never actually had to experience the trauma of her watching burn, did you?” He began to pace the floor of the cell again. “I wonder what kind of person you would have been now if you had.”

Hope was now stood in the doorway of the house were her mother had died. The events began to unfold in front of her – all the Mournling had to go off was what Hope had manifested in her mind from what her father had told her of her mother’s death, which obviously was not very detailed.

The Mournling knew how to make it as detailed as possible, though. Of course Hope had suffered from disturbing, invasive thoughts about her mother’s death. She spent long enough blaming herself for it, so her inner demons had latched onto that insecurity and used it to create distressing images from the day her mother died.

Hope was stood like a ghost in the threshold of the house, just moments before her mother charged passed her whilst gripping onto the form of a previous villain who had invaded their life. The minute a glimmer of sunshine touched Hayley Marshall’s skin, she burst into flames – along with the villain in her arms.

Hope once again couldn’t contain the scream of terror and hurt that crept up her throat and slipped through her parted lips.

-

This went on for what felt like hours; reliving the deaths of parents, or creating the deaths, of other loved ones. Hope was broken down almost entirely, sitting completely limp on the concrete floor. The Mournling was pacing up and down in front of her. She was beginning to wonder if she was dead already, and this was her own personal Hell – or whether she had just gone completely insane.

“What is it going to take to make you turn it off?” He wondered to himself. “Let me dive a little further.”

“No, please.” Hope began to plead.

“Invadenti.” 

Hope let out a sob the minute invasion happened for the hundredth time. She felt that it was now, somehow, creating heaviness in her head. It was like she could feel him in there, just walking around.

“Wow,” He chuckled darkly to himself after pulling himself from her thoughts. “I have to say, I did kind of see this one coming.”

The tribrid let out a groan laced with exhaustion yet dread. She didn’t know how much energy she had left in her before she would run completely dry.

“Josette Olivia Saltzman,” The Mournling said, emphasising every single syllable of the young Witch’s name.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hooooly shit ok,
> 
> I only started writing this fanfic last night after my girlfriend pitched the idea to me and i was like "hell fucking yes brb", so here you have it! i'll try to upload weekly (or twice a week)
> 
> \- f.


	2. Chapter 2

Hope found the last fuel of energy she had to lift her head and bare her teeth. “Don’t,” She said. It didn’t come as threatening as she had hoped, if anything it just sounded like another plea. “You can’t keep doing this to me.” She told him. “Someone is going to come looking for me.” Hope warned – but it was mostly said to give herself reassurance. 

“I don’t think that’s going to be as easy for them as you’re making it sound.” The Mournling scrunched his nose, sounding completely unbothered by her words. “There’s a spell on this chamber, and as far as I’m concerned it’s going take a long time before your little Witch friends find the opposing spell.” He dragged his words just to spite how much time he knew he had.

Hope resorted back to resting her head against the wall behind her. She could feel parts of herself beginning to slip away from her. She wiped away the last single tear that had fallen from her eye, and no more fell after that.

“Invadenti,” She heard again.

She was stood in Mr Saltzman’s office, the same day that Triad came to raid the school and all the supernatural’s where left without their powers. Everything about the memory was so precise: the humidity in the room, the placement of all the objects, the clothes on the backs of the Saltzman twins stood beside her. The memory repeated itself as it happened on the day; Josie diving in front of a toxic bullet that was meant for her Lizzie, to save her twin from any possible injury or death. Hope felt all the same emotions she had felt that day, only now they were heightened to a level that the tribrid could hardly tolerate.

It was as though when the Mournling was inside her head, she couldn’t comprehend the idea that the simulation was untrue. When Josie hit the ground, both Hope and Lizzie fell to their knees beside the young Siphoner. Hope took hold of Josie’s hand and began to whisper sweet nothings into her ear. 

The tribrid couldn’t hold the tears that began to fall from her eyes as she watched the infection spread at a rapid speed through Josie’s fragile body. Josie struggled to turn her head in Hope’s direction, but managed to do so with the help of Hope’s wandering hand that aided her.

“I’m sorry,” The younger twin said, her voice hoarse and hollow.

Hope almost laughed at her choice of words. “What do you have to be sorry for?” She asked, using the pad of her thumb to caress Josie’s porcelain skin.

“This...” Josie seemed surprised that Hope appeared unaware of what she was getting at. “Abandoning you.”

Any hint of a smile fell from Hope’s lips, and instead she swallowed hard. “No,” She shook her head and sniffled. “You’re not going anywhere.”

Josie just smiled knowingly. Deep down, Hope knew that there was nothing she could do to save her. She tried – and not even her blood would work. All that they could do was sit by her side whilst holding her hand and watching the life slowly drain from eyes.

“I love you, you know that?” Josie suddenly blurted out. “I’ve loved you since I was fourteen.” There was a croak in her voice, and a tear began to trickle down her face which Hope instantly wiped away.

Hope bit her lip in response, trying once again to contain her own tears. “I love you too.”

Within seconds the light in Josie’s eyes had faded completely. Hope rose to her feet and let out a thunderous scream, bringing her hands to head and squeezing at roots of her hair. She felt someone take hold of her arms and tug at them, wanting to realise them from the death grip they were in.

“Hey!” She recognised the voice as Lizzie’s. “Hope,” Lizzie attempted in a gentler tone. The tribid steadily opened her eyes, meeting Lizzie’s stare now. “Just turn it off.” The blonde said sincerely. “It’ll all go away – all this pain you feel, the guilt, the anger.”

Hope’s gaze dropped the lifeless figure on the form. “I want it to go away.” She said.

“You have the power.” Lizzie reminded her. The older twin brought her fingers to Hope’s chin, manipulating her stare back into her direction. “Turn it off.” She whispered.

Hope took a shaky breath in before closing her eyes. She imagined everything in her body just shutting down – all of her emotions: sadness, guilt, anger, remorse, anxiety. She felt all of them starting to fade away entirely, but she also started to feel the disappearance of: happiness, love, kindness.

Soon enough the process was over and she opened her eyes to find herself back in the same cell she had started in. The Mournling was standing over her, his head tilted sideways and a broad smile spread across his thin face.

Hope just sat there looking up at him with a tearstained face. She felt very different. She didn’t fear the monster like she did before, and she didn’t feel worried about the Saltzman’s whereabouts; she didn’t feel anything really.

“Can I have a drink now?” She said, pulling herself to her feet.

The Mournling tossed her a blood bag he had stolen from the Mystic Falls hospital whilst on his way to the school. Hope eagerly pierced it open and almost moaned at the taste of the liquid. It was practically dripping down her chin.

Unbeknownst to Hope, the Mournling had now released the barrier spell he had cast upon the chamber, and the Saltzman’s more or less chased their steps down the staircase and into the cell.

They’d located the tribrids whereabouts minutes after she had been captured, and had spent the past three hours trying their best to find a spell that would take down the barrier. They had heard almost every word coming from the Mournling’s mouth.

“Hope,” Alaric sighed, his eyes falling to the empty blood bag in her hand. 

The spell book fell from Josie’s hand and onto the floor. They were too late; and that made her feel immense guilt. Lizzie shook her head in response to Hope’s state and put her head in her hands, feeling just as defeated as the other two.

The Mournling had completed what he had come to do, and therefore made his escape as soon as he opened up the barrier.

-

“You guys wasted your time,” Hope chuckled, opening up the gate of the cell. “I’m fine.”

The Saltzman’s eyed the tribrid up and down, wanting to analyse the extent of the damage the Mournling had managed to inflict. Josie could tell just by the lack of light in the older girl’s eyes that she was no longer present. There was barely any ounce of ‘Hope’ in them.

The twins looked to their father for the next move, but he didn’t have one. It had been awhile before he had to deal with a vampire turning off their humanity. “Well,” Alaric cleared his throat. “Just head back up to your room, I guess.”

Hope flashed a smile before sliding past them, heading up the stairs and out of the chamber; leaving the three Saltzman’s worried and confused.

“So your plan is to act like everything is fine?” Lizzie was the first to attack her father’s response to Hope’s new form. “Dad, she could be a colossal danger right now – to everyone.”

Alaric simply raised his hands abidingly. “I know, I know.” He assured her. “I just...need a minute to think.” He told her before heading towards the stairs.

“I can’t believe this,” Lizzie told her sister who was staring blankly at the wall in front of them. Her words seemed to break Josie from whatever trance she had been in for the past few minutes.

“Yeah,” She said vacantly. “Me neither.”

Josie was racing through a selection of thoughts in her head, trying to find a plan that would bring back the Tribrid’s sanity. She was growing increasingly frustrated with herself when managing to find a flaw in every idea that came to mind.

“I’m going to my room.” Josie spluttered out quietly, turning on her heel and leaving the chamber in a hurry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi again! I wrote this second chapter a few nights ago so I thought I might as well upload it now. let me know what you think  
> of the story so far.
> 
> ps. I’m still getting use to the format of this site as I used to use Wattpad so do bare with
> 
> \- f.  
> @bewitchinghosie on twitter !! (cheeky plug lol)


	3. Chapter 3

Days passed with Josie only catching glimpses of Hope. The young Witch spent most of the days in her dorm, researching all there was to know about vampires and their humanity.

If she wasn’t found in her room she was in the library gathering up books on the subject she had very quickly found an interest in.  
Josie had managed to catch sight of Hope in the library, and then in the hallway – both on separate occasions. The tribrid would flash a smirk at the siphoner whenever she captured her stare, and Josie would immediately look away.

In a way, she was scared of Hope now...to a degree. Something deep inside her told her that Hope would never hurt her, no matter what kind of state the older girl was in. Josie was more concerned about how unpredictable Hope was now – therefore she was unsure of spending any one on one time with her.

So instead, she would hide away in her room and keep her nose buried in numerous books that fed her information on Hope’s current state of mind. She made note of any key things she would come across that would give her further insight on ways to bring back the tribrid’s humanity.

One day in particular, Josie was perched on her bed amongst a medley of books she had borrowed from the library when she heard a knock on the door. She flinched in response, so engrossed in her studying that she had blocked out any hint of the outside world. Josie sighed as she pushed herself from the mattress and headed for the door – and then the knock came again.

“I’m coming!” She called impatiently. “What could possibly be so important-“ Josie started as she tugged the door open; her words got stuck in her throat, along with a hitched breath, when she saw who was now in front of her.

Hope quirked an eyebrow at Josie’s reaction. “I thought you might like some milk and cookies,” She said. “I’ve noticed you checking a lot of books out the library; and we all know studying makes you hungry.”

The tribrid practically invited herself into the dorm of the younger girl, slipping through a gap Josie had left between herself and the entrance to the room. Josie still hadn’t really caught the breath that was trapped in her throat. Still, she closed the door and turned her attention back to her room.

Hope had set the snack down on Josie’s bedside table and was about to take a seat on the bed when the young Witch remembered the content of the books, which were still arrayed across the mattress.

She quickly, but subtly, made her way over to the Tribid. Sitting herself down on the bed before Hope could, Josie cautiously angled herself in front of the books and tried her best to shove them behind her.

“What’re you doing here?” Josie finally asked as Hope took a seat on the other side of the bed. The younger Witch had never seen Hope wear her hair the way she was now; two strands falling loosely at either side of her face, framing it perfectly. 

“Like I said, you seemed nose deep in your studies.” Hope reminded her. “I thought you could use a break.”

Josie simply nodded, diverting her gaze away from Hope’s. “I appreciate that – but I should really get back to it.”

This was the first conversation they had had in awhile. Josie didn’t really know where to look or how to act; all that she wanted to do was get back to studying. She wanted to bring Hope back – the real Hope.

“Well, what’re you studying?” Hope readjusted her position on the bed into a snugger one. Josie realised then that it wasn’t going to be very easy getting her to leave.

Josie chewed on her bottom lip. She wasn’t very good at thinking on her toes. “I’m studying...” She began to glance around the room, wanting something to inspire her white lie. “The meat industry.” Josie decided after setting her eyes on the money bank ornament that she had, which just happened to be a pig.

Hope narrowed her eyes. “You’re studying...the meat industry?” She asked. Josie nodded innocently. “You go to a school for supernaturals, and you’re telling me that we have books in the library on the meat industry?”

Shit; thinking on her toes definitely had not worked out in her favour. Josie couldn’t think of anything to say that would defend her statement – but it didn’t matter. Hope was already on her feet and standing behind Josie, picking up one of the books the young Witch had tried to hide.

“A Complete Guide to being a Newbie Vampire.” Hope read the title aloud. Josie began to cringe. “Hm.” The Tribrid smirked to herself as she paced the room and skimmed through the first page. She got bored very quickly though and tossed the book back onto the pile. Josie flinched at the sound it made. “What’re you up to, Jo?” She asked, more demanding this time.

Josie thought she could detect an ounce of playfulness in the older girl’s demeanour; the way she folded her arms and licked at her lips. There was a shadow of a curled smile on her ample lips – but Josie was scared of misreading the signs she was receiving. Hope could’ve easily been pissed about her reading up on the Tribrid’s new state.

Josie huffed in defeat. “I’m reading about how to bring back your humanity.” She said, shimmying so that she was now facing Hope fully. The older girl furrowed her eyebrows, appearing completely baffled by Josie’s pointless study. “I hate seeing you like this Hope,” Josie continued. “You’re like...a shell of yourself.”

Hope laughed, shrugging her shoulders. “But I’ve never felt better.” She claimed. Josie didn’t like how sure she sounded. There was no waver of uncertainty or questioning her voice – she genuinely believed that she was a better version of herself.

“Your Dad was known for being evil and merciless.” Josie recalled. “When your humanity is off, you’re opening up a gateway for those aspects of your father.” The smirk on Hope’s face didn’t even falter. She didn’t care – because she wasn’t worried about it. If those genes leaked out into her and she became a ruthless ripper, she didn’t care. She no longer had the remorse to.

“I’m my father’s daughter.” Hope disregarded with a shrug. 

Josie scoffed in disbelief. She remembered when Hope was terrified of having those parts of her father’s genes. Hope already had her father’s aggression and she had always used it for good, though that was most likely to be the Hayley Marshall in her. Josie wasn’t sure she wanted to see just how unpleasant a situation could get if Hope began to used it mercilessly. 

“There’s a party tonight,” Hope spoke up again. “I’d hate for you to miss it just because you’re studying.” She began to take slow steps towards her, until she was standing right in front of her. Josie had subconsciously started to tilt her head slightly to the side. “It’s a waste of time anyway.” She whispered.

Josie let her eyes fall shut as she shook her head. She only realised Hope had left when she heard the door click shut. Despite what the Tribrid had told her, Josie picked up her snack from the bedside table and opened up her books once again.

-

As the day began to draw to a close and classes began to end, Lizzie came barging back into their shared dorm room. Without saying a word, she began to root through her own closet and pulled herself out an outfit. Then she crossed over to Josie’s side, and started to search her closet too.

“Um,” Josie beckoned. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“I’m picking you out an outfit.” Lizzie replied nonchalantly. “This should do,” She decided as she pulled out a baby blue playsuit and tossed it onto her younger twin’s bed.

“An outfit for what?” Josie argued with a huff, finally closing her laptop.

“There’s a party tonight. We’re going.” The blonde declared.

It wasn’t very often that Josie got to have a say in what the twins did. A lot of the time Josie just bit her tongue. She liked to make Lizzie happy, and a party wasn’t such a terrible way to end the night.

Once the twins were ready, they made their way out of the school grounds and into the woods. All they had to do was following the thumping music and loud chatter. It didn’t take long for them to find the crowd of students. Lizzie took hold of Josie’s hand and guided her through the flood of drunken teenagers and to the drinks table. 

Josie let Lizzie decide on their drinks whilst she took in her surroundings and tried to recognise some of the faces amongst the array of people. To her surprise, Hope was nowhere in sight. The young Witch even stood on her toes for a moment to get a better look – but she couldn’t spot her. 

“Here,” Lizzie passed Josie one of the red cups she had in her hand. “It’s Vodka and lemonade.”

Josie scrunched up her nose after taking a sniff of the liquid. “This smells like gasoline.”

“Bottoms up,” The older twin shrugged before taking a large swig of the alcoholic beverage. “Jesus Lizzie,” She cursed. “Did you think to put any lemonade in here?”

Lizzie rolled her eyes. “Stop being a baby. Let’s go and dance,”

Soon enough the sisters were mixing in with the crowds and finally finding their friends. They were four drinks in now, and Josie was started to feel a little lightheaded.  
“Woah there,” MG laughed as Josie almost fell entirely into him. “Watch the shoes.” He added, it was then Josie realised she’d spilt some of her drink on him.

They had been dancing with Kaleb and MG for the past half hour now. Josie was a way sloppier drunk than Lizzie was – it was always confused the younger twin how Lizzie could handle her alcohol so elegantly.

“Sorry,” She muttered through a smile before dismissing the incident and continuing to dance with the small group.

However, her light-headedness began to turn to dizziness and she could tell something wasn’t right. She quickly slipped away from her friends and fought her way through the other gatherings of people until she found a clearance in the woods, about a metre away from the party itself.

She knelt down beside a tree and the drinks she had consumed began to spill from her guts and onto the floor. “Oh god,” She sighed to herself. Luckily this only lasted a couple of minutes.

“You okay there?” Josie heard from behind her. It wasn’t a voice she recognized, so she quickly dismissed them.

“I’m fine,” She said with a wavering hand.

“You don’t really look it,” The guy chuckled. Josie could tell that he was getting closer to her rather than further away.

She repositioned herself so that she was slouched against the tree rather than faced away from him. She looked up to get a better view of his face, which proved almost pointless considering her vision was so blurred right now. As far as she could tell, it wasn’t something that she recognised.

“I’ve just had too much to drink,” Josie told him. “I’m a bit of a lightweight.”

The boy continued to move towards her until he was stood in front of her. “Here,” He offered out his hand. “Let me take you back to your dorm.”

Josie looked at his hand and furrowed her eyebrows. She wondered if this was the safest thing to do, but her pounding head decided for her. She hesitantly reached out to grab his hand and allowed him to pull her up; even then she almost stumbled over her own two feet.

He then draped his arm around her waist and kept hold of her hand. “What’ve you been drinking?” He asked.

“A lot of vodka,” Josie husked out. She quickly noticed that the boy had a wandering hand. It started to move lower, down past her waist. “Oh um,” She chuckled awkwardly. “I don’t really know how I feel about that.” She attempted to shimmy herself away from him, but he only tugged her closer.

“How you feel about what?” The boy returned coyly. 

Josie soon began to sober up a little, her vision bettered itself. She realised they were nowhere near the dorms, but were definitely further away from the crowd and further into the woods.

She started to panic. “Just get off of me for a minute,” Josie told him, pushing him away as best she could.

“Hey, I’m trying to help you.” He scolded aggressively, managing to pull her back by the arm.

Josie didn’t have to fight back for very long though. A shadow of a figure flung him from her and against the nearest tree. It took her a minute to realise what was happening; but the figure had pinned him up against the tree. It was only when the moonlight shined through a break in the clouds that she recognised the lock of auburn hair.

“If you touch her again, I will break your neck.” Hope husked through gritted teeth. “Better yet, forget you ever came across Josie tonight – and never do to another person what you have just tried to do with her.” 

Josie took a step away, resting her back against a tree and trying to catch her breath. Her adrenaline was still pumping at the incident she had just endured. Hope released the boy from her grip and he started to walk away, almost robotically. Josie noticed that people who had been compelled tended to have a weird walk for a few seconds after – she guessed it was just the hypnosis.

“What the hell where you thinking?” Hope now scolded Josie instead.

The young Witch took the tribrid in for a minute. She quickly decided that Hope looked quite gorgeous, and that she really suited a black denim jacket. “Me?” Josie questioned. “You’re the one that told me to come to this stupid party – and then you were nowhere to be found.”

Hope paused for a minute. “Did you look for me?”

“Well...yeah.” Josie rubbed at her eyes tiredly. “You said you’d be here.”

It was quiet for a moment. Josie looked back up at Hope who was still watching her with pursed lips. “Come on,” Hope offered her hand out to her. “You’re clearly too drunk to still be here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> another update!! ngl these will probably start getting less frequent as soon as writers block kicks in, which it inevitably will :)
> 
> thank you for all the kudos/comments you guys have been leaving! i really appreciate it.  
> @bewitchinghosie on twitter dont forget it xoxo 
> 
> -f.


	4. Chapter 4

Hope escorted Josie back to the school, which appeared quite ghostly considering the majority of the students were out in the woods. They got all the way to the twins room where they then just stood and looked at each other for a minute.

“What’re you waiting for?” Hope asked.

“I’m waiting for you to open the door.” 

Hope tilted her head back and huffed. “Why would I have your room key?”

Josie shrugged. “Because I don’t have it.”

The tribid put her head in her hands momentarily. “Well in that case,” She sighed before taking Josie by the arm and guiding her down the hallway. It wasn’t until Hope began to remove her room key from her back pocket that Josie realised what was happening.

“You want me to stay in your room?” Josie said as Hope pushed the door open.

“I don’t necessarily want you to,” She explained. “But considering Lizzie is not a lightweight like you, she’s still dancing the night away with your room key.”

Josie pouted as Hope placed her hand on her back and guided her towards the bed. Josie let herself flop down on it and the tribrid began to take off the younger girl’s shoes. “Are you going to go back out there?” Josie asked her.

Hope simply shook her head. “I’m not leaving you here by yourself. You might start rooting through my room for books on vampires.” She began to slip off her jacket. “Plus, Landon is busy looking after a rather drunk Rafael.”

Josie rolled her eyes as she rested her head against the pillow. Her senses were suddenly overwhelmed by Hope’s scent: lavender and sage. The young Witch involuntarily sighed with pleasure as she let her eyes fall shut again.

“You’re gonna have to move over, you know.” Hope reminded her. 

Josie realised that she was sprawled out in the middle of the bed and hurriedly shifted herself over to just one side. “Well I hope you had a good time at the party,” Josie settled for saying.

“I wish I could say the same Jo,” She playfully tapped the younger girl on the head. “You need to be more careful.” Silence passed between them again. Josie was lying awake, staring at the ceiling whilst Hope was doing the same.

“I didn’t even want to go there tonight.” Josie said. “It was Lizzie’s idea.” Hope tilted her head slightly to look at her. “She just threw me an outfit and told me we were going.”

Hope frowned. “Why didn’t you just say no?”

“I couldn’t have,” Josie shook her head. “She wouldn’t have had anyone to turn up with; she doesn’t like how things like that make her look.”

The tribrid sighed and diverted her attention back to the ceiling. “You’re not her puppet, Josie.”

“I know,” Josie told her. “But I’m her sister. We have a particular type of...loyalty.”

Hope bit her lip. “Why didn’t she go looking for you when you wandered off?”

“We were both drunk. She was turned away from me, talking to Kaleb.” Josie defended her older sibling. “I think they thought I was going to get more drinks.”

Both Josie and Hope knew that there was nothing sinister behind the lack of attention over Josie at the party, at the end of the day she’s a young adult. In reality Hope wanted to get across that she didn’t think Lizzie was a very good sister. She hated how much power she possessed over the younger Witch and wanted Josie to notice it herself.

Josie felt herself starting to slip into a slumber, but not before the alcohol in her veins had one final say. “Do you remember when I tried to slip a note under your door?” Josie began. “To tell you about my feelings towards you.”

Hope swiftly turned to look at her. “Yeah,” She noticed Josie’s eyes beginning to close and therefore quickly prompted her, even moving her leg abruptly in hope of jolting her back awake.

“I wish I would have just handed it to you.” Josie confessed through tired eyes. “It would have been embarrassing,” She chuckled to herself. “But at least you would have known.”

Hope’s face remained emotionless, her lack of humanity preventing her from feeling anything towards Josie’s words. 

-

The following morning, Josie woke up to an empty bed. Her hands instantly aided to her head which was pounding. “Oh no,” She groaned to herself. She grimaced even more when she realised that she was still in her clothes. Pulling herself from the bed, Josie hurriedly collected her shoes from the floor and scurried out of Hope’s dorm room.

Luckily the hallways were quiet and she was able to slip back into her own dorm room before anybody noticed her. She was surprised to see Lizzie comfortably perched on her bed watching Netflix. She didn’t look anywhere near as bad as Josie felt.

“Oh hey sis,” Josie threw her shoes down to the ground to capture her twin’s attention. Lizzie just looked at her. “Did you not wonder where I got off to last night?”

“I saw you and Hope walking back towards the school,” Lizzie shrugged. 

“Yes, after I almost got assaulted.” Josie argued in return. “You didn’t even come looking for me.”

Lizzie rolled her eyes impatiently as paused whatever was on the screen in front of her. “I thought you went to get more drinks, and then I saw you walking with Hope – what more do you want from me?”

Josie began to root through her bedside drawers for a change of clothes. “Just know that I could have died.”

Her twin scoffed. “Oh yeah, walking around with tribrid who clearly cares about you definitely puts you in a lot of danger.” Josie pulled a silly face in Lizzie’s direction, clearly at a loss. She was now more invested in changing into a snug pair of pyjamas than winning a silly argument.

“We bumped into Landon,” Lizzie told her. “He said that since Hope’s humanity has been off, she’s been completely distant with him.”

Josie frowned. Hope had been completely fine with her – sure, a bit cockier than usual and she definitely didn’t feel as relaxed around her due to the tribrid’s unpredictability... but Hope had been nowhere near as colossal as everyone thought she would have been. 

“That’s strange,” Josie said as she dipped beneath the covers of her bed. “I’m honestly quite surprised at how mellow she’s acting.”

Lizzie briskly turned to look at her. “When have you been with Hope?”

‘Oh boy’ Josie thought to herself. Lizzie could still be quite defensive when it came to Josie spending time with the tribrid – the thought of anything happening between them completely grossed her out and she therefore did everything in her power to prevent them spending one-on-one time.

“She came to the room yesterday with a snack for me,” Josie told her bluntly; but Lizzie gestured for her to go on. “She just said that she’s saw me studying a lot and wanted to make sure I’d had something to eat.”

Lizzie scrunched her nose in disgust. “What are you even studying for?”

“Hope’s humanity,” Josie mumbled. “There has to be a way to bring it back.”

Lizzie sighed and dipped her head back. “Look, I don’t really care what you do as long as you keep your distance from her.” She explained. “You have to remember that she’s still a vampire with no humanity.”

Josie silently tuned out of the conversation, not wanting to hear her sister’s negative comments. “I don’t really have the energy for this.” Josie said. “I just want to nap.”

The older twin huffed in response and turned her back to Josie before pressing play on the screen in front of her. Josie sunk further into her mattress and settled on sleeping away the rest of her hangover.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I told you these updates would slow down eventually...and I only got three chapters in before writers block struck looollll never mind!!   
> hope you enjoyed it anyways.


	5. Chapter 5

Josie woke up at two in the afternoon feeling groggy but refreshed from her hangover. Lizzie was in a slightly different position than before, but still watching Netflix. Deciding that she didn’t want to spend the rest of her day in bed, Josie forced herself out of bed and into the shower. Once she was done in the bathroom, she slipped into a pair of jeans and a baby blue vest top before she started fixing up her hair and applying some blusher to her cheeks.

“Where are you going?” Lizzie asked.

“To thank Hope for looking after me last night.”

“I told you to stay away from her,” Lizzie sat herself up from her lounge position.

Josie groaned in frustration. “I am; but she took care of me last night. I want to show her my gratitude.”

“You’re so naive.” Lizzie muttered under her breath, turning her back to Josie once more.

Still, Josie left the dorm room and went to find Hope’s. She had been sharing with Alyssa Chang for awhile now, but Josie knew that in light of recent circumstances Alyssa had been removed from the shared dorm room. Josie knocked on the tribrid’s door and waited a few seconds. When there was no answer, she knocked again – but there was still no sign of movement in the dorm room. She was just about to walk away when she noticed Landon locking eyes with her as he made his way down the hallway.

“Oh,” He stopped in front of her, carrying an assortment of textbooks. “Are you looking for Hope?”

“Uh yes.” Josie said, unsure. 

Ever since their brief summer romance, Josie and Landon never really knew how to act around one another. They never spoke about what happened for fear of it being awkward, but even without the mentioning of it they still found themselves at a loss for words.

“I saw her heading towards the transformation chamber,” Landon explained. “I don’t know what she was doing down there but...I think that’s where she is.”

“Oh,” Josie uttered out. “Thanks Landon.” She smiled briefly before slipping passed him and making her way through the school and eventually, to the hidden chamber.

The location had always mode Josie feel eerie; to her the chamber represented pain and suffering. She always felt as though she could hear the echoes of all the screams that had bounced off the walls and rattled through the bars of the cell.

“Hope?” She called from the top of the concrete stairs, but got no answer. “Hope,” Josie sang. She felt herself beginning to panic when there was no answer. Taking a deep breath, Josie started to make her way down the steps which echoed with every thud her shoes made. She started to hear sounds that sounded a lot like slurping. “Hope?” She called again more questioningly. 

The tribrid instantaneously joined her at the bottom of stairs. Josie jolted backwards and let out a small whimper of surprise. She immediately noticed that Hope had a small trickle of blood at the corner of her mouth which she slowly wiped away with the tip of her finger, her eyes remaining locked on Josie.

“You scared me,” Josie chuckled breathlessly. 

“What’re you doing down here?” Hope’s voice seemed drained of emotion – completely empty. Josie attempted to angle her head passed Hope, wanting to see what was behind her; but Hope moved her head at the same time, a smirk now grazing at her lips. “What are you doing, Jo?” She said again, but now in a whisper.

Locking eyes with the tribrid, Josie noticed that they looked vacant again; just like they had the last time she saw her in the chamber. Josie started to grow angry, concerned and frustrated as to what Hope was hiding. “No, what are YOU doing Hope?”

Hope kinked an eyebrow as her smirk began to spread into a full, smug grin. “Ooo,” She cooed. “Someone is getting a little too confident.”

Josie pressed her tongue to her cheek and scoffed. It took everything in her to barge past the tribrid and fully enter the chamber. She found herself stumbling backwards against the wall, immediately taken aback by the capacity of bodies that she found lining the walls of the cell - all drained of blood. Josie didn’t even know skin could be that colour. 

She was struggling to count how many there were; all placed into a seating position and staring blankly ahead of them. She quickly noticed that they were all young women. “Oh my god,” Josie whimpered breathlessly, struggling to remove her case from the lifeless forms in front of her. 

“Yeah, sorry about that.” Hope slowly made her way towards Josie. “You caught me at lunch time.” She added in a soft whisper.

Josie finally turned to look at her, the tears forming in her eyes beginning to cloud her vision. Hope just cocked her head to the side and gave the young Witch a slanted smirk.  
She had suddenly realised, in the most traumatising way, that everything Lizzie had told her about the tribrid was true.

-

“God, I can’t believe you.” Josie spat, not hesitating to scold the older girl in front of her. She started to pace the room, wanting to fix the situation but at a complete loss as to how. 

Hope sighed loudly as she leaned back against the wall. “You’re the one that just put a complete dampener on my meal.”

Josie snapped her head in Hope’s direction. “You’re meal?” She hissed, approaching the tribrid until she was stood just inches away from her. Hope could feel Josie’s breath hitting her face. “These are people. Hope.”

“No Josie,” Hope returned. “They’re how I stay alive.” She allowed the veins beneath her eyes to flicker and her fangs extend – but Josie barely budged.

Josie allowed silence to fill the room before she spoke up again. “Feed on me then,” She told her.

Hope blinked a few times, allowing the natural colour to come back to her eyes. She licked at her lips as she glanced at Josie’s and grinned. “You want me to feed on you?”

“If it stops you killing innocent people,” Josie clenched her jaw. “Yes.” She began to brush the strands of hair from beside her neck out of the way, letting it rest against her back instead.

Hope narrowed her eyes before baring her teeth; even just the sight of Josie’s neck was enough to entice the tribrid. Josie squeezed her eyes shut and waited to feel intense pain – but instead she felt herself being shoved against the wall as Hope’s arm pressed against her neck.

She raised her hands in an instinctive attempt to remove Hope’s hold, but she found that Hope was much stronger than she was. The tribrid began to angle herself towards the soft spot of Josie’s neck, and then instead started to move up towards Josie’s earlobe where she decided to bite down gently – eliciting a strained whimper from the younger girl’s lips.

“If you ever disturb me while I’m down here again,” Hope whispered. “I’ll end up taking you up on that offer.” She pushed herself off of Josie who panted breathlessly. “Get out.”

Josie brought her hand to her throat where Hope had restrained. “You’re everything I hoped you wouldn’t be.” Her tone was laced with disappointment as she turned her back and headed for the exit.

It took Josie a second to realise that she was crying, but as soon as she realised it the tears started to come at a faster pace. She flung open the door of her dorm room after struggling to get her card to work. Lizzie instantly sat up, automatically aware that something was wrong.

“What happened?” She asked carefully.

Josie was still crying, it had managed to make her breathless now. “You were right.” 

Lizzie sighed. “About Hope?”

Her younger twin just nodded. It was all that Lizzie needed to make her extend out her arms for Josie to fall into – and she did. The twins continued to spend the rest of the day lounging around eating junk food. They’d huddled together in Lizzie’s bed and binged watched anything they could find.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh hiiii!! I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this chapter and how it's written but I'm having writers block rn so I can't really do much better than this :( I hope you like it anyways. let me know what you think in the comments!
> 
> -f.  
> @bewitchinghosie on the bird app x


	6. Chapter 6

Josie’s timetable was filled with classes the next day. She was up and out for 8AM, preparing for her first class which discussed the origin of supernaturals. There was already a textbook laid out at each time; it wasn’t until she got closer that she realised what today’s lesson was going to be about.

“Okay class,” Mr Wellington demanded the attention of the students. “I think it’s about time that we got into the nitty-gritty supernatural stuff. You’ll find that it’s just as important, if not more important, than the basics of being a supernatural.”

Josie took a big intake of breath as she pulled the textbook closer to her and further examined the cover. They’d used some cartoon-like drawing of a vampire, she noticed. “Now I’m not going to be about the bush during any of this,” The teacher began. “That would be pointless. One of the first things you all need to know about vampirism is their heightened emotions.”

Josie found herself instantaneously making quick notes in her separate notebook, one that she never used for class notes. “I’m talking emotions like sadness, envy, anger...and one that I would rather not mention.” He said, causing the rest of the class to erupt into quiet giggles. “This is why a lot of vampires can’t handle this change and decide to turn their humanity off.” 

The atmosphere in the room changed swiftly, like everyone was suddenly reminded of Hope. Even Mr Wellington paused for a moment. He cleared his throat. “As I was saying, a lot is heightened.” The teacher diverted. “Here at the Salvatore school, we only allow our vampires to drink from blood bags provided by animals – this is something that Dr Saltzman is looking on changing given the fact that it doesn’t allow vampires to achieve their full potential.” Josie felt her ears perk up. “Feeding off of human blood heightens vampire’s supernatural abilities: making them faster, stronger and allowing them to heal faster from any wounds they may have.”

Josie’s notebook was filled with keywords that she had picked up on. She knew a lot already about vampires and vervain because of her father, but it was never the kind of information that she constantly refreshed herself on. Once the class ended, Josie found herself racing to find MG. She was relieved when she spotted him making his way up a set of stairs.

“MG,” She beckoned, and he quickly spun to face her. “I need you.”

“I can’t right now.” He ward her off, his voice sounding low and absent.

“It’s important.” Josie pleaded, but MG didn’t seem in the mood. It was only then that Josie noticed Rafael and Landon where with him. “What’s going on?” The vampire pursed his lips as he side-eyed his friends, taking a few rushed steps down the stairs until he was level with Josie. 

“Hope called things off with Landon this morning.” He told her, being sure to keep his tone at a hushed level.

Josie stole a glance up the steps, then noticing how solemn and detached the Phoenix appeared. “Are you serious?”

MG shrugged. “It’s what he told me.” He said. “What’s up with you anyway?”

“I wanted to talk to you about the process of becoming a vampire.” She glanced down at her notebook whilst MG’s eyes widened. “No, it’s not for me.” She chuckled nervously. “It’s about...Hope,” 

He frowned now. “Hope? She’s a lost cause,” He quickly dismissed.

“I don’t want to believe that.” Josie argued. “I feel like a part of her is still holding onto her humanity. It’s a thing that vampires can do.”

MG scoffed in annoyance. “Look, I can send Jade to come and talk to you?” Josie nodded affirmatively. “Just...let me deal with Landon, and I’ll call her.” She gave him a smile of gratitude before he disappeared up the stairs again and Josie turned towards the library.

-

Sitting down at the nearest table, Josie pulled out her notebook and began reading through the notes that she had made in class and compared them to the notes she had made when studying in her own time.

She was deep in thought as she tried to imagine the feelings that Hope may be experiencing. Hope had been so hurt and overwhelmed by her heightened emotions that she had decided to turn them off. Josie began to wonder just what the Mournling had done to her – what images he had put into her mind.

“What’s all this?” A familiar voice questioned from opposite her. Josie jolted backwards, placing her hand on her chest in fright. 

Hope raised an eyebrow as the corner of her lips curled at the edges. She leaned forward, resting her folded arms on the table. She had her hair pinned back into a high ponytail, which was definitely a rarity; the only time Josie ever saw Hope’s hair up was when she was sparring or playing football. Josie wondered whether or not she had just recently hunted down some prey, and then winced at the thought.

“Nothing,” Josie replied icily, slamming her notebook closed and slipping it back into her backpack. “What are you doing here?” 

“I just got back from your dad’s office.” Hope told her. “I managed to convince him to let me stay.” 

Josie found herself feeling relieved. She didn’t know whether or not she trusted Hope to be out there alone – she had, somewhere along the line, convinced herself that the newbie vampire staying at the school was the best option. Hope knew that in order to stay, she had to keep herself in check.

“Well, I hope you found a good place to bury those bodies,” Josie returned a little too loudly.

Hope shushed her almost instantly, taking a quick glance around the room to make sure no one had heard. “Are you insane?” She scolded.

“Me?” Josie felt her anger grow. “Hope, I saw you having your own little feast in the basement. You’re meant to only drink animal blood.” She was sure to keep her volume slightly quieter this time. “And I’m not going to let you get away with it.”

Hope rolled her eyes as she slouched back in her chair. “Yeah, I’ve realised that – with your little study books and all.”

Josie shot her a distasteful stare. “I don’t even want to be around you right now.” She decided, pushing herself from the table forcibly and grabbing her bag. She’d barely lifted her foot off the ground before Hope appeared in front of her, pressing her arm gently to her shoulder.

“Wait, “ The tribrid appeased gently. Josie could’ve sworn that she saw a glimmer of worry in her eyes, but it disappeared just as quickly. “You caught me a bad time the other night. That wasn’t me.”

The younger Witch scoffed. “Well, if it looks like a tribrid and smells like a tribrid...”

“That’s not what I meant.” Hope cut her off, letting her hand fall to rest at her side. “You can’t just barge in on people like you did. What did you even want?”

Josie opened her mouth to speak, but then closed it again. Did Hope even deserve her gratitude right now? Watching Hope’s eyes bore into Josie’s curiously was enough to give her the answer. “I wanted to thank you for taking care of me the other night – not that you deserve it now.”

Hope flashed a small smile. “Mhm,” She hummed carelessly before turning her back to Josie in attempt to walk away.

“Wait,” Josie found herself beckoning her now. “Why did you call things off with Landon?”

Hope frowned immediately. “That’s going around the school already?”

“You’re like the power couple.” Josie shrugged. “MG told me about it.”

She nodded slowly, seeming reluctant to give any further information on the matter. “Things change, I guess.”

Josie was the one frowning now. “That’s all you have to say?”

Hope glanced down at the floor seeming somewhat scolded by Josie’s words. “There’s nothing else to it. I didn’t feel the same about him anymore.” She looked up again to meet Josie’s eyes. The two stared at one another in total silence for a few seconds before hearing hurried footsteps, announcing Jade’s arrival.

“Hey, MG said you wanted to talk.” She started breathlessly before noticing Hope. “Oh.”

Hope raised her eyebrows and gave a tight, awkward smile. “Have a nice study date,” She commented, shooting Josie’s a knowing stare as a smirk slipped onto her lips. Josie couldn’t help but watch her walk away.

“So she literally knows that you’re studying her.” Jade almost laughed as he took Hope’s chair.

“I’m not studying her,” Josie argued, sitting back down and retrieving her book. “I’m studying her species.” She decided. “Now, tell me everything you know about the humanity switch.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hiiii i got bored and wrote this. let me know what u think!! hope you're keeping well x
> 
> -f.  
> @bewitchinghosie on twitter


	7. Chapter 7

Jade sat with Josie whilst the Witch read through some textbooks and made some more notes. Jade tried her best to feed her any primary source information. “It takes a lot of intense emotion to breakthrough that barrier,” Jade articulated. “I’m talking like...a traumatic death or,” Her lips puckered in thought, her eyes casting upwards as though she was searching for words. “Love.” Jade locked eyes with Josie once more.

Josie’s forehead creased. “What about it?” She asked blankly, making Jade roll her eyes.

“Okay,” Jade readjusted her position on the chair to face Josie fully. “Landon continuing to act all loved up with Hope was probably the reason she broke up with him.” She started to explain. “Love is a feeling that Hope just...can’t wrap her head around right now. But if Landon found himself in a traumatising, dangerous or upsetting situation – and Hope witnessed him feeling this way, she could possibly be starting to crack through the barrier.”

Josie’s ears perked up along with the rest of her features. She felt motivation and adrenaline start to pump their way through her veins again. “So what kind of situation would he have to be in?”

“Anything from the loss of a loved one, a near death experience...it would have to be kind of a big deal.” Jade scrunched her nose when she realised how dark and morbid the circumstances would have to be.

Josie sighed, her shoulders visibly dropping in defeat. “We can’t do that.” 

“Why not?” 

Josie glared at her, visibly taken aback by the vampire’s dense question. “Because we can’t put Landon through trauma simply because it might bring Hope’s humanity back.”

Jade sighed in a way that made Josie feel dumb. “No, you dork. He just has to find a way to feign the trauma.” Josie’s mouth formed into an ‘O’ shape of realisation. Her eyes darted around the room as her mind raced with all the ways she could fulfill this idea – many of them she was dismissing swiftly.

“This is going to take some planning,” She realised, picking up her pen and beginning to make new notes on a clean sheet of paper. The two attempted to bounced ideas of each other for at least an hour, but they all went down like a deflated balloon. Soon enough the bell signaled, ordering them to get to their next class.

Josie found it hard to concentrate on the rest of her classes that day. She involuntarily scanned every hallway for Landon whenever she was changing rooms – but she returned to her dorm without catching sight of him.

-

When Josie woke up the next morning, she decided the first thing that she wanted to do was find Landon. She was more than eager to dive straight into the plan that Jade had managed to manifest, and she couldn’t let herself be fully invested until she got the final go-ahead from Landon.

Josie was heading towards the common room when she caught a glimpse of Auburn hair. She came to a halt on the stairs, her eyes lingering on the Tribrid who seemed to be hooked in an intimate conversation with one of the werewolves. Hope locked eyes with her quite swiftly, like she’d been waiting for her. She tilted her head to the side, giving a small smile as she raised her hand and twinkled her fingers in a wave.

Josie rolled her eyes, completely ignoring her and continuing to walk towards the common room. She had to consciously release her jaw from the hold she had got it into. She was relieved when she spotted Landon slouched into one of the chairs with his nose in a book. One of the first things she noticed was this pained expression plastered on his face. Sorrow was written on every crease evident on his forehead.

“Landon,” She beckoned once she was in front of him. He jolted at her abruptness but quickly lowered the book in his hand. “Hi,” Josie added.

“Hey Josie,” Landon hurried out, clearing his throat afterwards. He was never very good at hiding his nerves, and proved it further when he began to shift in his seat. “What’s up?”  
It was only then that Josie realised she had no way of articulating what she wanted to say to him. How was she supposed to deliver this information without it sounding completely insane?

“Well,” She started, folding her hands in her lap. “I don’t know whether or not you’re aware of this but I’ve been doing a little digging...on how to rouse a vampire’s humanity.” Josie formulated her words cautiously.

Landon seemed to suck in a lot of air, leaning back slowly. “Right,”

“And yesterday, Jade and I came up with a plan.” She began to fiddle with her fingers now. “Which sort of involves you.”

The taller boy frowned instantaneously. “What?”

Josie stiffened at the tone of his voice. “We just realised that if Hope watched someone that she loved experience some kind of trauma, it could spark something in her.” She clearly hadn’t realised just how terrifying those words sounded, so when Landon’s eyes widened and he shifted backwards, Josie didn’t really know what to do. “Wait, that sounded weirder than I wanted it to.” Now Josie was the one shifting uncomfortably. “We’re not actually asking to put you in a dangerous situation.” Just before she could get into the logistics, the bell rang to signal the start of class. Josie sighed. “I’ll meet you at the Mystic Grill after school, okay?”

Landon looked surprised. “Why there?”

“It’s more secluded than school grounds.” Josie said. “I don’t want anyone knowing what we’re doing.” Landon gave a skeptical nod as he picked up his book and rose to his feet. The two of them went in separate directions in order to get to class, though studying potions was the last thing on Josie’s mind right now.

She found herself watching the clock the entire day whilst occasionally glancing around the halls in order to try and steal a sly glimpse of Hope Mikaelson; Josie liked to be reminded that the two of them were under the same roof, in the same school, just going about their day. She found it reassuring...for some reason.

3:30 came eventually, and Josie waited outside the school for Landon to meet her. She started to shift her weight from left leg, to right, and vice versa. It felt like hours passed before she finally spotted the curly haired boy.

“Did you get lost or something?” Josie decided to voice her impatience as the older boy approached her.

“Sorry,” Landon mumbled. “I was debating whether or not I wanted to come.”

The two of them began walking towards Josie’s car. “Oh,” She uttered out. She wanted to reassure him, to tell him that he didn’t have to do this if he didn’t want to - but she was feeling selfish, and she wanted him to do this. She needed him to. “I won’t let anything happen to you.” Josie settled for saying.

“Oh God,” They heard another voice say. “Do I even want to know what’s going on here?” Lizzie stood away from them, her arms folded tightly across her chest.

Josie rolled her eyes. “Nothing that you need to stress about,” She unlocked her car and carelessly tossed her bag into the backseat. “I’ll be back later.”

Lizzie’s eyes widened as her jaw slacked, visibly offended. “You’re not even going to invite me?”

Landon subtly and silently slipped into the passenger side of the car. “No,” Josie returned. She was too busy mentally going over plan to care for Lizzie right now. “I’ll see you when I get back.” With that, she started up the car and started to drive away – but not before she spotted Lizzie giving her the finger before walking away, her hips swinging with sass.

The drive up the road was uncomfortably silent. Josie didn’t take offensive to Landon not engaging in a conversation with her, it was more than clear that he wasn’t over the fact that Hope ended things with him – and now Josie was dragging him into a plan that Hope was the main focus of. Still they arrived at Mystic Falls after having a conversation that reeked of small talk, and got themselves a seat at the Mystic Grill.

Josie held back on diving straight into the plan. She didn’t want to be that rude and direct about it, so she waited until they’d had a bite to eat. “So, what’s your plan?” Landon took the words from Josie’s mouth, crossing his arms against the table and fidgeting uncomfortably.

“Oh, um.” Josie took a quick sip of water. “Well I was thinking that-“ 

Before the Witch could even finish, a shadow invaded her peripheral vision. “Sorry,” The figure said. Josie turned to look at who was interrupting them, but it wasn’t someone she recognised. She prepared herself to hand over the salt or sauce or something. “It’s a bit of a strange question but...do you happen to know someone called Hope Mikaelson?”

The woman stood tall over their table, her palms resting on the edges. Josie felt easily intimated – this girl was like 5’11, with a short dark lob framing her face and accentuating her already prominent cheekbones. 

Reality eventually caught up to Josie when the girl raised her eyebrows impatiently. “Yes,” She hurried out, locking eyes with Landon whose eyebrows were creased into a perplexed frown. “Is there something we can help you with?”

A small smile graced the stranger’s lips. She turned to the side, beckoning someone to join them. Within a second there was another girl stood beside her.  
“Yes, actually.” 

Before Josie could react, a hand was placed palm up in front of her face. There was a powdery substance that she recognised – but then it was blown at her, and her vision faded to black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ooooppss. I've been awake since 06:45 and I literally cannot stop writing.
> 
> \- f.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> T/W  
> torture, psychological/physical abuse 
> 
> \---  
> I'm really interested to know what you guys think of this chapter, so please leave some comments below or tell me through twitter!   
> enjoy the angst x
> 
> \- f.  
> @bewitchinghosie

Josie woke up in a gasp, her eyes trying to scan her surroundings. It took her a minute to catch up to herself. She jolted forward and was instantly pulled back by the handcuffs that were securing her to a pipe and bounding her in place. The concrete floor was bringing an almost intolerable level of damp and coldness to the backs of her legs. She winced at the sound of the restraints scraping against the metal pipe, and groaned loudly to herself when she realised the severity of the situation she’d found herself in.

“Josie?” Landon called out for her. It was only then that she realised that someone else was in the room with her.

She titled her head to the side, now seeing the dimly lit silhouette. “Where the Hell are we?” She huffed in frustration.

“I have no idea,” Landon complained. “That other Witch bitch blew that weird powder shit in my face.”

“It’s a sleep solution,” Josie began to explain. “It knocks you out instantly.” 

Landon began to shimmy around uncomfortably, resulting in a repetitive scraping of metal on metal which made Josie’s skin crawl. Thankfully he stopped before she had to yell at him. “How long were we out for?” He asked her.

Josie tipped her back, resting it against the wall behind her. “Long enough for them to move us to some secret location.” She began to shift her weight, wanting to shimmy her butt further back into the wall so she was sat more upright. The motion, unintentionally, brought something to light. She couldn’t feel the restriction and weight that her phone normally brings when it’s slipped into the side of her skirt pocket.She let her eyes drop shut. “Oh, shit.” 

Before Landon could open her mouth to question her, a creak of a door opening up distracted him. An overwhelming amount of light shone into the room, and Josie had to tuck her head into the side of her neck to avoid being blinded.

Footsteps slowly padded into the centre of the room, followed by another set of footsteps – then the door slammed shut and Josie was finally able to see again.  
She wasn’t surprised at all when she saw the two Witches from the Mystic Grill, towering over them again. She had to fight the urge to roll her eyes.

“Good evening,” The one with the lob greeted, with a grin evident on her face. The other, smaller Witch simply waved teasingly. Neither Josie nor Landon said anything. Josie kept her head resting on the wall, just gazing up at them and waiting. Landon was doing the same, his mouth in a straight line. “Allow us to introduce ourselves,” The taller of the two took a step forward, placing her hand on her chest. “I’m Penelope.”

“I’m Skylar,” 

Again, Josie and Landon stayed silent. She was barely even listening; there was a lot going through her mind right now. She couldn’t think of anyone that she could have pissed off lately...but she could think of a lot of people Hope might have.

“We might as well cut to the chase,” Penelope shifted her weight and rested her hands on her hips. “We followed you from the Salvatore school to the Mystic Grill.” 

Landon’s face bared a look of confusion and disgust. “You were waiting outside our school?”

“We were hoping to find Hope Mikaelson,” Skylar informed. “But you two were the first two to leave the school, so we took our chances with you.” An unnerving smile spread across her face. “Luckily you didn’t disappoint.” 

Josie’s jaw clenched at the reminder that this ordeal was the work of Hope. She’d almost forgotten about the array of bodies that she found the tribrid feeding on in the cellar. “So...what do you want with us?” Josie braved. She really just wanted to rip the band aid off at this point.

The two witches locked eyes, a menacing smile slipping onto their lips. “We want to get revenge.” Skylar told her, her whites of her eyes flicking red as prominent veins formed beneath them and her teeth began to extend.

-

"You see, your little friend decided to feast upon our sister to the point of death a few weeks ago." Skylar told them. "And we just can't let her get away with that." The fact alone was enough for Josie to know that this wasn’t going to end well. She felt herself growing more and more anxious – until she was suddenly reminded that she was also a Witch. Whilst the two strangers opened their mouths to further explain their plan, Josie mumbled a spell at a barely audible level: but nothing happened.

Penelope’s head snapped towards Josie abruptly, and she began to slowly approach her. “Yeah...so, considering we didn’t know what kind of supernatural beings we would be dealing with.” She knelt down until she was eye-level with her. “We put a spell on the restraints that blocks magic.”

She flashed a smile that only feigned sadness, and then continued to pace the room whilst her accomplice continued her speech and Josie began to wish they’d never opened their mouths at the damn grill. The Witches stood, looking down at Josie and Landon. “So,” Penelope said, relishing in the pure sense of dread she knew she had instilled in her two victims. “Who does Hope care about the most?”

Josie was overcome by a wave of panic. Her heart was racing in a way it hadn’t in years. She traced the feeling back to the night of the fire in Hope’s room, the rush of adrenaline after letting her crush know how she felt. Of course that rush was immediately followed by regret and then moments later, a dread as she watched the fire she’d started begin to spread. Out of all of those feelings, it was the dread that best matched with her current situation.

The Witches continued to loom over them, watching them squirm. “I’m her ex boyfriend,” Landon blurted out, surprising himself. “I know she still loves me, and she only ended it because of her humanity switch. I’m the one that will get her attention”. He finished, sounding as though he was convincing only himself that his assumption was true.

Josie gained a new found respect for him. She thought he had always been brave, that to her was his only good quality. Penelope and Skylar exchanged unreadable looks before setting their sights back to Landon. “Okay” Skylar spoke up, “You’ll do,” She punctuated her sentence with another wide grin.

Skylar and Penelope talked among themselves briefly, planning the most efficient and graphic way of torturing Landon that would get to Hope more than anything. They’d occasionally look over their shoulders at the captives, as if perfecting every last detail of their plan. To Josie it felt like an eternity, and to Landon it wasn’t long enough. 

Skylar eventually walked over to Landon, who watched her every move out of pure survival instinct. Being unable to die didn’t help in a situation where someone just wanted to put you through immense pain. Josie was also staring at the captive. She couldn’t help but have empathy for this girl, who just wanted to inflict as much pain as possible without caring about the innocent people she’s hurting. How could she not empathize with her, when this is just another Hope Mikaelson? She was abruptly pulled from that thought by Penelope speaking behind Josie’s phone, which she had pulled from her back pocket.

“We’re recording,”

“Let’s do this then.” Skylar took hold of Landon’s neck while looking into the camera. “Hope Mikaelson, we know what you did to our sister.” Her face was completely devoid of emotion while saying this, Josie was left gulping in realization. “And well... we want to repay you for that,” A mischievous smirk graced her face. “We have your school friends here, and we’re going to have some fun.” 

She let go of Landon’s head and started walking over to Josie, whose body tensed up as Skylar gently ran her hand across Josie’s cheek before grabbing her face roughly. “And we’ve got a lot in store for them,” Skylar let go of Josie’s face and towered over her. “Of course, we’d much rather be doing all this to you” She looked sharply at Landon before approaching him again. “But for now, your ex lover will do.” 

She grabbed Landon’s hair and pulled his head back with one quick, sharp motion. Landon squirmed as he stared into the eyes of his captor. There was a deep sadness in them, he noticed, as if she didn’t want to do this but felt like it was her only option. 

“Obviously it’s normal for a vampire to feed off a human, but most of us prefer to compel our victims to be calm and not feel the pain.” She looked back at the camera as she finished her sentence. “Without the hypnosis, it’s a horrible feeling; getting so much blood completely sucked from your veins.” She glanced back to Landon, and took a long pause “…and he's about to find out just how bad that feeling is.” She quickly plunged her fangs into his neck, piercing the skin to acquire her crimson reward. Josie watched helplessly as he was drained little by little, screaming in pain all the way. 

Josie eventually squeezed her eyes shut, unable to bare the sight of it. It felt like as though it went on for an eternity, the sound of Landon spluttering and groaning – but eventually she pulled herself off of him as Landon slouched over, barely breathing and appearing groggy. 

Skylar turned back to the camera, revealing the two puncture wounds in Landon’s neck. She licked her fangs tauntingly and began to walk closer to the device. “We look forward to hearing from you, and if we don’t then… there will be more fun for your friends.” She signed off with a smug wave. 

Once the recording stopped, all emotion drained from her face. She refused to even acknowledge Josie and Landon whilst she and Penelope got enthralled in the video. “I think that works,” Penelope said, looking for Hopes number on Josie’s phone. “I’m sure it’ll get the point across, and if not we can just make some more videos for her.” She briefly put on a hollow smile before letting it fade away. “Sent,” They exchanged glances and anxiously awaited a reply.


	9. Chapter 9

Five, maybe ten minutes passed them by before the phone vibrated in Penelope’s hand. Skylar immediately brushed up against Penelope’s shoulder to see the message.  
Josie bowed her head anxiously, but found herself being compelled to look back up when she heard Hope’s voice coming from the phone.

“Oh my God,” Her voice was husk and shaky, like she had been crying or still was. “Please don’t hurt them, just send me the address and I’ll-“ But then, laugher. “Sorry, I couldn’t even keep that going.” Hope was now giggling blatantly, and for a minute Josie lost any hope that she had in being saved by the older girl. “Wow…I have to give it to you Jo, you almost had me there.” All eyes in the room then settled on Josie. “It’s like you forgot that I knew about your little plan. Have fun though, keep them videos coming.” The video came to a stop, but Josie was still being glared at.

She did not see this coming. Hope thought this was one of Josie’s setups, how were they supposed to prove that they were actually being held hostage right now? She felt sick to her stomach at the idea of the sisters worsening their cruelty in a heated desire to make Hope aware of the reality they were in.

At the Salvatore school, Hope was making her way to the kitchen to grab herself a blood bag. She hated the difference in texture and flavor when it came to drinking the mandatory animal blood the school supplied, but she knew that she went too far with the blood bath she’d previously indulged in at the chamber a few weeks back.

She sometimes, for a split second, would find herself fearing the unknown of her capability. She would do inhumane things impulsively, and scare herself – but only for a second. She was more concerned about being kicked out of the school than she was about being caught in the middle of a completing a slaughter, she didn’t want to be homeless. She liked the Salvatore school.

Once Hope reached the threshold of the kitchen, there was a group of students gathered by the island and chattering away. She leaned against the door frame and crossed her arms, looking over at them. It took them a moment to realize she was there, but as soon as they did their expressions faltered and then dropped.   
“Come on,” One of them encouraged, nudging his friend with his shoulder who hurriedly ushered the group out of the room.

She rolled her eyes at how timid they were as she pushed herself away from the door frame and towards the walk-in freezer. The sound of padded footsteps drew her attention, but she quickly grabbed one of the blood bags before making her way towards the island; waiting for the students to be scared away by her presence. When she realized it was Jade, she found herself feeling disappointed. She knew Jade wouldn’t run away at the sight of her – she had more confidence than that. But Jade did almost came to a halt when she spotted the tribrid, clearly taken aback by her presence. Her eyes quickly squinted into a narrow glare as she audibly sighed at the unwanted company. 

“Good evening to you too,” Hope teased, bringing the blood bag to her lips as Jade made her way into the freezer to retrieve the same package. Jade forced a tight smile, slamming the freezer shut and making a b-line for her room. “Your plan didn’t work, you know.” Hope called out to her.

Jade stopped instantly, her face twisting into complete perplexity as she looked over her shoulder at Hope. “What?”

The tribrid rolled her eyes as she drained the last of the blood bag and tossed it into the trash. “Your plan, with Josie,” She wasn’t very impressed with the fact that Jade was making her spell it out for her.

Jade’s eyes started to wander. Her eyebrows drew together and her forehead creased in response as she searched her mind for what the hell Hope was talking about. “I haven’t made any plans with Josie,” Jade decided firmly.

Hope’s jaw wiggled before it clenched, her arms folding across her chest. “Don’t play dumb with me.” She grew frustrated now, taking another step towards the other Vampire who refused to back away. “I was there when you had your study date.”

“About the humanity switch?” Jade remembered. Hope nodded, almost relieved that a lightbulb had turned on in Jade’s head. “We didn’t come up with a plan. We decided that we needed one, but it didn’t go any further than that.”

The scowl fell from Hope’s face, and she stared at Jade blankly. “Tell me that you’re lying.”

Jade shot her a look of disbelief. “You’ve literally just bullied me into telling you that, and now you want me to say it was a lie?”

“If that wasn’t a lie, then what the video I’ve just been sent is real.” Hope clarified.

Jade swallowed hard. “What video?”

-

It was clear that Josie would be their next piece of bait to spark something out of Hope. They’d tried with Landon, and Hope thought it was a joke. It only made sense for them to try it out with Josie this time.

She’d been instructed to stand up and rest against the wall, so she obliged without uttering a word. Landon was still completely out of it – other than being immortal, he was human. Josie knew it was going to take weeks for him to fully recover after having so much blood drained from him.

Penelope was setting up Josie’s phone again whilst Skylar waited for the go ahead from her sister. Josie’s legs felt weak and wobbly, she was afraid that they were about to buckle from under her and send her tumbling to the ground again. Luckily, that didn’t happen.

“Recording again,” Penelope informed Skylar, who immediately turned to meet the camera’s eye.

“So I assume any love you that you previously felt for your ex has gone, right?” She asked, leaving a beat before continuing. “I have no idea what your relationship is with this girl, but I’m hoping she’ll rouse some kind of emotion in that black heart of yours.”

Josie felt was grabbed by her chin forcefully, causing her to lock eyes with Skylar. She almost immediately knew what this meant: she was about to be compelled. Josie watched uselessly as Skylar’s eyes dilated, boring into her own.

“You’re going to feel pain that you have never felt before.” Skylar commanded. “It’s going to feel so intense that you’ll want to pass out, but you won’t. Even after I’m done, the pain will only lessen mildly.” And then Skylar blinked a few times, signaling the end of the compelling. Josie whimpered slightly; her knees were wobbling again, and now her hands were too. Skylar plainly shrugged at the camera. “Blame yourself, Mikaelson.” 

Josie could just about register what was said before her neck was being pierced by Skylar’s fang. She let out a bloodcurdling scream, even Penelope winced at the sound of it. Many whimpers followed after that. Josie swore she could see stars amongst the black behind her eyelids. Her entire body felt as though it was vibrating, and there was definitely some kind of ringing in her ears. She was getting cold sweats, and then her entire body would heat up before cooling down in cold sweats again.

She could feel the blood emptying from her, and the slurping coming from the vampire’s mouth was not helping the situation at all. It felt like hours passed, like the apocalypse was unfolding outside these very doors of the chamber – she was sure that pigs were flying by now. But eventually, the sucking stopped.

Josie slumped to the floor as soon as Skylar let go of her, whimpers still tumbling from her lips. The pain had lessened by about five percent; she was still shivering and vibrating against the cold concrete.

Skylar strutted casually to the camera, wiping the blood from the corners of her lips. Penelope ended the video before another word could be uttered. She seemed quite taken aback by what had just unfolded in front of her, almost like a deer in headlights – but she said nothing about it to her sister, instead she sent the video without any protest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry guys, still getting tortured in a chamber as of rn x
> 
> \- f.  
> @bewitchinghosie


	10. Chapter 10

Twenty minutes away, Hope stood in the kitchen of the Salvatore school in the midst of a heated discussion with Jade. “You’re telling me that you got sent something that graphic, and you thought it was fake!?” Jade nearly screamed at her. Her adrenaline was pumping blood through her veins at a very high speed.

“Josie has been planning something behind my back for weeks, what do you expect me to think?” Hope returned, only somewhat concerned about the situation.  
Jade released a sigh so low it could have been mistaken for a growl. “We have to find them,”

“We?” Hope scoffed. “You can find them yourself, I’m going to bed.” She made a start towards the exit before being tugged back forcefully.

“Are you that numb?” Jade asked, her eyes staring deeply into Hope’s.

Hope didn’t even blink. For one, she felt immensely disrespected by Jade even having the guts to lay a hand on her and secondly, she was busy having a battle with herself inside her head. A part of her was screaming, telling her to get into Jade’s car and go searching. But another part of her brain was saying what does it matter? She knew that this wouldn’t make her lose any sleep…or would it? She was taunted by a flash of dark hair, curled at the ends; a flash of doe eyes, pouted lips and a tartan skirt. She was reminded that they had Josie, and something about that didn’t sit well with her.

“We’d have to track her phone.” Hope said, waiting for Jade to admit defeat.

Instead, she shrugged. “I can get that done.”

“Then let’s go.”

-

Hope and Jade decided against using Lizzie to complete a locator spell on Josie, they toyed with it for awhile as the moral side to Jade leaked through a few times and was insisting that telling Lizzie about what had happened was the right thing to do, but Hope managed to pull her back each time. Instead, they got one of the Witches from the year below them to complete the spell – and before too long, they were getting comfortable in Jade’s car and heading for the gates.

Almost immediately after the wheels hit the tarmac, Hope’s phone buzzed in her hand. Jade instantly slammed on the brakes and glanced over at the tribrid, whose movements were laced with uncertainty as she opened up the message and clicked on a video with narrowed eyes and unsteady breathing. Jade stayed put in the driver’s seat. She silently decided that she would rather judge the severity of the video through Hope’s facial expressions than watch it herself.

“So I assume any love you that you previously felt for your ex has gone, right?” The video began, and Hope frowned at the girl’s choice of words. “I have no idea what your relationship is with this girl, but I’m hoping she’ll rouse some kind of emotion in that black heart of yours.” Hope’s featured dropped completely; Jade let her eyes fall shut. “You’re going to feel pain that you have never felt before. It’s going to feel so intense that you’ll want to pass out, but you won’t. Even after I’m done, the pain will only lessen mildly.” 

“Hope, turn it off.” Jade demanded, her voice quivering slightly. But Hope didn’t say anything, and she didn’t move a muscle. “Hope!” She tried again – but nothing.

Jade slammed on the accelerator, unsure as to why she even stopped driving in the first place. Now she was racing down the street with Josie’s screams echoing through the car.  
Hope locked her phone, pressing her hand down against the leather seat whilst her other hand came to rest against her head. Jade kept stealing glances at her, her mouth a straight line and her breathing almost erratic as she waited for the tribrid to speak – but she didn’t.

“What the fuck did you do to that girl’s sister?” Jade finally blew. 

Hope was not in the mood to be provoked, and this was something that she did not want to talk about right now. “I don’t know.” She declared, loud and clear.

Jade scoffed shamelessly. “How can you not know? Did you kill her?” She continued to poke.

“I. Don’t. Know.” Hope repeated, this time with a dash of venom in her words. She hated it when people made her repeat herself. She hoped that punctuating her words would be enough of a warning, but it wasn’t.

“Are you kidding me-“ She started again, but Hope launched forward to wrap her hand around Jade’s throat. 

The car came to an abrupt halt as Jade fought for air. “I swear to God, if you ask me one more question I’m going to rip your throat out.” Hope hissed through gritted teeth, waiting a few seconds before slowly prying her hand away and settling back into her seat once she felt as though she had got her point across. A few minutes passed before Jade started up the car again, this time deciding against saying anything to the irritable tribrid beside her.

-

The captors seemed to be getting just as disorientated and fed up as Josie and Landon. It was more than obvious just by looking at a slouched over Landon, that needed some serious medical attention (or vampire blood) whilst Josie was still trembling in pain. Sweat was dripping from her pores now, her outfit was almost soaked through and she any colour was drained from her face.

Penelope and Skylar were slouched against another wall, one of them toying with Josie’s phone whilst the other analyzed the victim’s injuries from a distance.  
“Did you hear that?” Skylar suddenly perked up, pushing herself upright. “I just heard a car pull up outside.”

Penelope looked at her, trying to listen out as she cast her eyes to the door. “I can’t hear anything,”

“Sh.” Skylar urged. She cautiously lifted herself from the floor and tip-toed her way beside the door, positioning herself in a stance that would allow her to pounce on any ‘antagonists’ about to make an entrance.

All that Josie could hear was distant footsteps, getting closer and closer with each passing second – but she was too out of it to pay proper attention; all that she could focus on was the pain and venom coursing through her veins.

There was a crash, and then a bang. Josie’s head shot forward and her eyes landed on the booted down metal door lying in the centre of the room. The next thing that her eyes met was Hope, who stared down with an illegible look on her face – it only lasted a second though, because then Hope was emerging herself in a fight with Skylar whilst Jade fought with Penelope.

“You killed my sister!” Skylar screamed at Hope, her voice breaking. Hope simply blinked at her, and then Skylar launched towards her. 

For awhile it appeared as though Hope wasn’t using the slightest bit of supernatural strength she had in her body; she was letting Skylar land the most predictable swings, even enabling her to toss her into the wall a few times. But then she did begin to fight back, and it wasn’t long before Skylar was pinned to the concrete wall by Hope’s hand around her neck. 

“Are you going to kill me too?” Skylar uttered out at a barely audible level, her voice half restrained by the death grip she was being held in.

Hope cocked her head to the side. “Do you want me to?”

Skylar spat in Hope’s face, making the tribrid tip her head back slightly in response - and then seconds later the cringing sound of a neck snapping ricocheted off the walls. Hope released her hold on the girl, and her body fell to the ground.

Jade was still battling it out with Penelope, but Hope decided that it was a fight the vampire should be able to handle alone. Instead, Hope brought her hands together and swiped them against one another as though she was getting dirt off of them. She turned to look at Josie, and then looked over at Landon.

“Hey,” Josie was momentarily roused from her disorientated state to see a very blurred Hope kneeling down in front of her. Hope brought her own wrist to her mouth, biting down on it until she spotted the crimson liquid begin to leak out. “Drink this,” 

Josie eagerly sucked the blood from Hope’s veins, almost moaning in delight at the instant relief it started to bring her. She was unsure whether or not it was a hallucination brought on by her drowsiness and trauma, but she could have swore that she felt a hand aiding to her hair and stroking it gently.

“Hope,” Jade beckoned from behind. “Landon needs you too.” Hope hardly batted an eyelid, wanting to make sure that Josie got the amount of blood needed to heal her. “I can give her mine if she needs more.” Jade reminded her.

Hope didn’t like the idea of it very much, but she still managed to pry herself away from Josie and make her way over to Landon. She ran her fingers through his hair to lift up his head, checking that he was still awake – which he was, but very barely.

“Landon,” She coaxed, once again lifting her wrist to his mouth. Landon didn’t even need telling before he immediately began to drink from her. Hope just about noticed though, her eyes were too busy glancing over her shoulder to check on Josie. 

Instead she met Jade’s eyes. “We need to get them to the car.”

-  
Hope assisted Jade in getting the two into the car, though they had already perked up thanks to Hope’s blood cure. It didn’t change the mental trauma they’d had to endure for the past few hours.

“You can drive back,” Jade made it seem as though it was set in stone as she tossed the keys in Hope’s direction and slipped into the backseat beside Josie and Landon. Hope rolled her eyes, perching herself in the driver’s seat and starting the car up.

Every now and then, she’d glance in the rearview mirror and scowl at how close Jade seemed to be sitting to the brunette. Her entire body was angled towards her, and away from Landon – not to mention the fact that she definitely caught her staring at Josie unnecessarily a handful of times.

Hope found herself trying to lock eyes with the young Witch, but it seemed as though they just missed each other’s wandering gaze each time. Hope refused to believe that Josie was purposely avoiding her gaze – Hope being the reason behind the hostage situation was appearing to be a gigantic elephant in the car that nobody seemed to want to bring up.  
She found herself sighing blatantly whenever Josie seemed to avoid her straying eyes, but it seem to rouse the reaction she wanted each time. She shifted uncomfortably in the seat and fought against the urge to spin around and say: “look at me!”

They arrived safely back at the Salvatore school soon enough. She swiped the keys from the ignition and was the first out the car, tossing the keys up in the air and over her head before making her own way into the school before any of them could stop her.

Jade helped Josie back to her dorm room whilst Landon insisted on making his own way back. Even though Josie was physically fine now, Jade was still aiding to the younger girl without need. When walking up the steps Josie wound find a lingering hand just barely grazing her back. “You’ve had a rather eventful day then,” Jade chuckled cautiously.

Josie nodded. “That’s one way of saying it.”

“You had me really worried,” Jade let her know as they came to a halt outside the dorm. “I couldn’t even bare to watch the video.” She sighed.

Josie bit her lip as she slouched back against the wall. Her mind was straying from the conversation she should have been engaging in with Jade; because she was too busy trying to put a finger on why she wasn’t feeling anger or disappointment towards Hope. All that she kept saying to herself was ‘wrong place, wrong time’ – that’s why they had wound up in that dudgeon.

“You must be pretty worn out.” Jade spoke up again after being ignored. “I’ll let you get some rest.” She smiled, placing a comforting hand on the side of Josie’s arm.  
Josie got the urge to pull the blonde into a hug, so she did. She felt as though she needed it. They only stayed like that for a few comfortable seconds before Josie pulled away, thanking her and bidding her goodnight.

Lizzie was tucked away in bed when Josie came into the room, so she tried to silently kick off her shoes and get comfortable – but then there was a knock on the door.  
She winced at the nose of it, glancing over at Lizzie worriedly before remembering how much of a heavy sleeper her sister was. Josie tugged the door open softly, her eyebrows dipping when she saw Hope standing on the other side of it.

“Can we talk?” Hope’s hands were embedded into the pockets of her leather jacket. Josie couldn’t decipher any particular emotion on the tribrid’s face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> happy 1st of july from the UK !!! i've just been writing another chapter of this story and then decided to update you guys, and I was honestly shocked at how far back you guys are compared to where i'm up to whilst writing it...sorry bout that lol
> 
> anyways kaylee just broadcasted her gayest insta live yet, and you got another chapter of my story! (which I tried to make a little bit lengthier than usual) such a lucky day for you guys x
> 
> -f.  
> @bewitchinghosie


	11. Chapter 11

She gave Lizzie the once over, just to double check that she was still asleep, before joining Hope in the hallway. “What about?” It was the first time that Hope had managed to get a proper look at Josie’s face since rescuing her, and Josie wondered whether she was silently searching for any physical damage that might have been left behind.

“I’m sorry for what happened to you back there,” Hope admitted with a subtle nod, almost as though she was assuring herself of something. “It really…made me feel some type of way.”

Josie’s frown deepened. “How so?” 

She could hear Hope swallow harshly before tipping her head back and taking in some air. “I didn’t like seeing you being treated like that.” Hope worded it as though she was revealing a secret, as though that kind of response to seeing someone being tortured was almost unbelievable and rare.

Josie caught herself scoffing, which just made Hope’s features drop. “You’re surprised that you didn’t like seeing me get tortured?”

Hope’s face remained vacant as she folded her arms across her chest, her demeanor changing in a flash. From Hope’s point of view she was making a pretty big statement here. This was her attempting to confide in someone – she was surprised and somewhat afraid, that she’d felt what she could only describe as a hairline fracture forming on her heart when she saw a damaged Josie, slumped against a wall in that chamber.

She’d made a seemingly poor attempt at hinting this to Josie, who now appeared to be scoffing in her face in response. In Josie’s eyes, Hope’s attempt at conveying emotion was weak – it wasn’t enough for her. She wanted to see the older girl on the floor, positively overwhelmed with emotions she thought she no longer had; not standing outside Josie’s dorm room saying ‘I might have been a little sad that you were being tortured in a twisted revenge ploy as a consequence to my erratic and inhumane behaviour’.

Maybe she was being too harsh, but she was exhausted and overcome with emotions that she couldn’t even decipher. She just wanted to curl into a ball beneath the comfort arms of her duvet.

Eventually a ferocious smirk invaded Hope’s lips, nudging her from a state of limbo back into sinister ways. “Maybe it was just because I didn’t think they were doing enough.”  
Josie never usually took Hope’s dark comments to heart given the circumstances, but this one hit her like a brick that knocked all of the air out of lungs before settling in the depths of her stomach and making her feel heavy.

“You really are a lost cause, aren’t you?” Josie surprised herself by taking a step forward. Hope’s eyebrow flickered upwards in response to the movement, a bit impressed by the newfound courage Josie was showing.

Hope chuckled openly, letting her tongue press against the point of her fang. She raised Josie’s bold movement by allowing herself to take a step towards her – making the distance between them almost enough to be classed as ‘kissing distance’. If anyone saw them right now, Hope was sure that that’s what they would be thinking.

“Are you finally accepting that now?” Hope raised her hands slightly and brought them together in a prayer-like clasp. “Because I’ve been waiting for that wave of realization to hit you.”

Josie let out a sigh, bathing Hope’s lips in her scent. She was speechless – mostly because she couldn’t really think straight whilst there was such a minimal amount of distance between them; she could feel the warmth of Hope’s breath hitting her face, and she knew that Hope could probably feel hers.

“Goodnight, Hope.” She settled for saying, turning on her heel and pushing open the door just enough for her to slip inside.

Not even bothering to look back, Josie clicked the door shut and then pressed her back against it. She took comfort in the darkness of the room and brought her hands to her face. Within seconds they were coated in a thin layer of tears.

-

Josie was awoken the following morning by the hurried sound of the curtain above her bed being yanked back. She jolted upwards in fright, only to spot a very smiley Lizzie at her bedside with a full breakfast tray. 

“Good morning,” Lizzie beamed – way too noisily for Josie’s delicate ears.

Josie groggily readjusted herself into a seating position on her bed, pulling the covers with her. “What’s all of this?” 

She lifted her head to get a better look at the tray. Taking the hint, Lizzie set it down onto the girl’s legs. She then took it upon herself to crawl across the bed and occupy the small, empty space beside her sister.

“Why have you done this for me?” Josie asked with a hesitant laugh, taking a sip out of the glass of fresh orange juice perched onto the tray.

“I didn’t,” Lizzie told her. “There was a knock at the door, and when I went to get it this was sat there…with this note.” She then handed her a small white piece of card.

‘Jo, I thought you deserved a good breakfast after what you endured yesterday. I wasn’t too sure what your favourite was though, so I just decided to fix you an assortment. Hopefully this made your morning :) – Jade.’

Josie’s eyes scanned the note twice before setting it down next to her. “Oh,” She spluttered out in surprise. “I wasn’t expecting that.”

Lizzie was being way too tired for her liking, so it was no surprise that when she looked over at her she was wearing a knowing smile. “Jade, huh?”

Her sister rolled her eyes in response, reaching one of the many croissants in front of her. “It’s not like that.”

“Are you sure?” Lizzie almost laughed as she gestured to the mini buffet in front of them. “I’m not sure she’s getting the hint.”

Josie pursed her lips in thought. She silently hoped that Jade was thinking of her that way, though she’d felt for awhile now that the older girl may have had some type of crush on her – that was why she had originally tried to keep a bit of a distance between them this semester, of course that plan was shot to hell when Jade was the only vampire available to assist with her plan of saving Hope.

She shrugged in response to Lizzie’s, continuing to innocently nibble on the croissant in her hand. Lizzie rolled her eyes before pushing herself up off the bed. “Well, I have to get to class.” Josie watched as her sister swung her backpack onto her shoulder and walked towards the door. “See you at lunch.” She reminded her, opening up the door and disappearing into the hallway.

Josie looked down at the breakfast in front of her. A lot of thought and kindness had been put into this, and she felt a rush of pink flood into her cheeks at the very thought of it. But she quickly shook her head and dismissively placed the tray onto her bedside table so that she could get herself ready for the day ahead.

-

Her day was mostly uneventful until lunch. She easily found her usual table already occupied by Lizzie, MG and Kaleb. And then noticed Landon and Rafael tucked away on their own table talking among themselves happily.

MG’s eyes stayed lingering on Josie the minute he spotted her walking into the cafeteria. She was confused at first, and kept trying to dodge his gaze. Once she was closer he silently rose from his seat, making a b-line for her. 

He did a quick glance back at the table before taking her by the arm and tugging her to one side. “Landon told me about what happened yesterday.”

Her eyes instinctively shot towards Lizzie, making sure she hadn’t heard him. She was satisfied when she noticed her sister emerged in a conversation with Kaleb. “I’m fine.” She responded in a blind assumption that it would be her answer to the question he was bound to ask.

MG nodded through the pained expression on his face. “Why haven’t you told Lizzie?” He asked, ensuring his voice was low enough for the blonde not to hear.

Josie rubbed softly at her forehead, the mere idea of Lizzie knowing causing her stress. “She would just…freak out.” Josie explained. “And she would definitely direct all of her anger towards Hope. I don’t want to have to deal with that.”

“But it was Hope’s fault.” MG said matter-of-factly. It was obvious by the look on his face that he was ready to shoot down any attempts of defending the tribrid that Josie had prepared.

So she simply pressed her lips together. She didn’t really see it that way; of course they would have never of encountered the two girls if it wasn’t for Hope ruthlessly murdering their sister, but it wasn’t Hope’s fault that herself and Landon were the first two the captors saw. Not feeling up to a heated discussion, Josie nodded nonchalantly. “Yeah.”

Luckily it was enough to please MG, who pulled her into a side-hug and escorted her to the table this way. The four of them erupted into casual chatter, and Josie was relieved that any mention of Hope Mikaelson was absent from all of the conversations that unfolded. 

Josie’s was gratefully distracted by the lighthearted conversations, almost so distracted that her mind had barely wandered to Hope…almost. It wasn’t much help when she noticed the tribrid making her way into the cafeteria.

Their eyes met instantly, a half smirk meeting Hope’s lips in response. Josie stared blankly at her – and they stayed like this for three, very slow, seconds before Josie managed to pry her eyes from her. Even then she found herself looking up all the time, not wanting to lose sight of her amongst the crowd.

“Josie?” Kaleb nudged her arm, pulling her attention back to the table. “Lizzie asked if you would tell us about Jade leaving you that breakfast buffet.”

She shot Lizzie a look of annoyance. “It wasn’t even that big a deal,” Was all she wanted to say on the matter – and then her eyes began searching for Hope again. She found her almost instantly, despite her being on the other side of the hall. In fact Hope was already looking over at her with her forehead creased in what Josie could only describe as anger.

A cluster of feminine, boisterous laughter filled the hall from a particularly large group of girls sat at one of the center tables. Josie watched as Hope scowled at them before pressing at the side of her ear, looking over at Josie.

Mild panic took over Hope’s face. She seemed more flustered than anything, like a child being caught doing something they shouldn’t be. She turned away quickly. It didn’t take long for Josie to realize that Hope had been trying to listen into their conversation; and for some reason she found herself smiling gingerly. She waited for the girls’ laughter to die down, and then reintroduced herself to the conversation.

“Or maybe it was,” She said as clearly and vocally as she could. The three of them looked up at her, puzzled. “Maybe she still has a crush on me.”

“Oh she definitely does.” Lizzie chuckled obviously. Josie couldn’t help but smirk when Lizzie unknowingly fuelled whatever it was she was trying to do. “She’s had a crush on you for the past year.”

“Yeah, she has.” MG and Kaleb agreed.

Josie eyed Hope from her peripheral, proud of herself when she found her side-eyeing their table with the same irritated expression plastered on her face. As soon as she caught Josie’s wandering eyes, her expression cleared and she turned her back once again.

The taunting ended then, as soon as the bell rang. Josie cleared the hall as subtly and hurriedly as she could – not wanting to be sidetracked by the tribrid. She hadn’t forgotten the conservation that took place the night before, and she definitely wasn’t ready to talk to her. 

“Hey,” Jade greeted from beside her.

Josie jolted, her hand resting on her chest impulsively. “God,” She huffed out. “You scared me.”

“Sorry,” Jade tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, slowing down her pace in hopes that Josie would fall into sync with her. “I was looking for you at lunch. I wanted to make sure you got what I left you this morning,” Her voice trailed off quietly. It wasn’t very often that Josie caught Jade acting coy, so it continued to surprise her when it did occur.

“I did,” She smiled politely. “You really didn’t have to do that, though it was really sweet of you.” 

Jade gave her a toothy smile. “It was my pleasure, I’m glad you liked it.” Silence enveloped them for a few seconds after that. “You know a few of us have arranged to have a movie night tonight,” Josie glanced over at her, more than aware of where this was going. “Kaleb asked your dad if we were able to use the main hall, and he said yes.”

Josie waited a few seconds longer for Jade to finish off by asking her a question, but she didn’t. “Is this your way of inviting me?”

Jade’s cheeks almost flushed. “Sort of,”

“I’ll be there.” Josie couldn’t help but chuckle soft at how timid Jade could be sometimes. Moments like this made her wonder how she could have such an effect on a girl like Jade – someone who always seemed so bathed in confidence and high self esteem. “Is seven too early?”

“Seven is perfect.” Jade let her know, pressing her hand lightly against Josie’s arm before turning a corner and disappearing into a cluster of other students.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for not updating sooner, i've had to go to training at work and i'll be back working by tomorrow :(  
> posting now is sort of a good distraction from the current situation regarding naya. I idolised her growing up, and in a way i still do. she played the character that I resonated the most with during my early teen years. I really hope that she is found safe and well. i'm so in my head about this.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and enjoy your day/night.
> 
> -f.  
> @bewitchinghosie


	12. Chapter 12

May, 2019:  
Josie was cuddled into herself, a teddy bear pressed against her chest and held upwards by her legs. Hope, however, had the laptop secure on her lights whilst she stayed rested against the headboard with her hands folded on top of her stomach.

“Can we please turn this off now?” Josie pleaded from behind her hands.

Hope hadn’t even realized how scared the younger girl was – but she couldn’t hold back a laugh at the sight of her. “You’re such a baby sometimes,” She taunted, still hitting the close button on the screen and setting her laptop down onto to the ground.

“I don’t know how you can enjoy watching movies like that.” Josie readjusted her position into a way more relaxed one, even feeling safe enough to now put her bear down. “Do they not scare you?”

“Believe it not, Insidious is not the scariest movie I’ve seen.” Hope revealed, lifting up the duvet to join Josie under it. 

Josie gasped playfully, causing Hope to roll her eyes. “I’m sorry that Lizzie bailed on you.”

Hope shrugged. “I don’t really mind. A date is a date, after all.”

It was the night of Hope’s seventeenth birthday – and initially it was meant to be the three of them embracing a movie night; but Lizzie got asked out on a date that happened to fall on the same night. They weren’t really surprised when Lizzie made her choice. Hope surprised herself when she felt a rush of excitement over the idea of it being just the two of them. She didn’t dare say that aloud, though.

“I haven’t been on one date since Penelope,” Josie admitted, her voice quiet as she averted her eyes to the pattern of flowers on the bed sheets. 

“You haven’t?” There was a blatant display of surprise in Hope’s voice, though she had tried to hide it. Josie just nodded. “Why not?”

Josie shrugged her shoulders, looking up to meet Hope’s eyes again. “Nobody has been interested enough to ask me out.”

This was a revelation in Hope’s eyes. How had nobody shown interest in Josie now that she was single? She thought there would be boys and girls lining up outside her dorm room with flowers and chocolates. 

Hope’s eyes were wide now. “I’m sure they have been,” She laughed. “They’re probably just terrified that Penelope will beat their ass.”

Josie rolled her eyes teasingly, dismissing her statement with a shake of her head. “I don’t think that’s it.” She sighed. “I want someone to ask me out.”

Hope felt an illegible shift in the room’s atmosphere, and in her chest. Josie’s eyes flickered upwards to look at Hope through her accentuated eyelashes. It was only then that Hope noticed how close their bodies had become throughout this conversation, she could almost feel the warmth of Josie’s bare legs radiating against hers. She shimmied herself away ever so slightly.

“Why do you want to go on a date so badly?” Hope wondered, her tongue feeling swollen in her mouth.

“I just miss what Penelope and I had,” She began to explain. Hope hated to admit that she felt her stomach swoop. “Not that I miss Penelope per se, but I miss the intimacy of the relationship.” 

Hope nodded understandingly, though she couldn’t find the right thing to respond with. “I know it’s strange to go from being in a loving, intimate relationship to suddenly having nothing.” Josie bowed her head. “But…I’m always here to give you a cuddle.” Hope settled for saying, catching herself leaning into give the younger girl a hug. Luckily Josie willingly obliged, and the two sunk into one another’s embrace.

-

Present Day: 

Josie retreated back to her dorm along with the other students when the day came to an end. She still had a couple of hours to unwind before meeting Jade at the hall, so flopped herself onto her bed and reached for her iPad.

Whilst retrieving it she knocked one of her notebooks onto the ground, cursing to herself when she had to lean down to pick it up. During its tumble to the ground, it had opened itself up and landed face down on one of the pages. It was inscribed with notes she had made when Jade was teaching her everything about the humanity switch.

‘Vampires humanity switch can be triggered by trauma – which means trauma can also bring it back:  
Love, hate, loss, sadness.’

Josie found herself feeling disappointed. All of a sudden she was reminded of what she had tried to plan to bring back Hope’s humanity – and it was like she was looking at it through a new set of eyes. How would putting Hope through more trauma and pain help heal her? If anything, Hope needed to feel comfort and reassurance. It was then that Josie realized she had to do something different.

Setting the book down, Josie got herself up from the bed just as Lizzie entered the room. “Hey sis,” Lizzie greeted, abandoning her bag at the side of the door. “Where are you going?”

Josie was already slipping her shoes back onto her feet. “I’m…” She stopped herself, remembering that Lizzie didn’t think too fondly of Hope. “I’m going to get some food.”  
“Oh, great!” Lizzie brought her hands together in a clasp. “Will you get me some ice cream?”

Josie huffed, realizing she’d now actually have to go down to the kitchen. She agreed just so her sister would actually let her leave, and then she made a start towards Hope’s dorm room.

It wasn’t very far from her own, so she arrived there in a matter of minutes and gave a cautious knock on the door. “It’s open,” She heard seconds later. 

Hope was perched at her desk, scribbling away in what appeared to be a diary. It was the first time Josie had been in Hope’s room (when sober) since she’d turned her humanity off. She didn’t notice it last time, probably due to her intoxication, but Hope’s walls were bare. 

There used to be a string of family photos above her desk, and an additional string of photos with friends above her bed – there was none of that now; just a plain wall.  
The only thing resembling any ounce of humanity that Josie could find was something sticking out from inside of Hope’s diary. She could make out that it was a picture, but all that she could see was the beginning of a tree, a white house and the tops of four heads. If Josie had to guess, she’d of said that it was one of the few family photos that Hope had. She just had to be proven right.

Hope hadn’t even looked up from her notebook, so Josie had to clear her throat to get her attention. As soon as they locked eyes, Hope grinned. “To what do I owe the pleasure?” She pushed herself away from the desk to approach the door, a pair of gym shorts resting loosely on her hips and a baggy t shirt almost covering them completely.  
“I think we should talk,” Josie let her know her reasoning for turning up unannounced. 

“What about?” Hope mirrored Josie’s words from the night before, a somewhat mocking toning hidden in her tone.

“Last night, and a few other things.” Josie crossed her arms defensively, always feeling a tinge of inferiority when stood in front of the tribrid.

Hope raised a suspecting eyebrow. “So does that mean I have to invite you in?” She asked, stepping to one side and insinuating that that was the invitation.  
Josie took a deep breath, sighing audibly as she slipped past her and entering the room. She almost put way too much time and energy into deciding where to sit and how to act, but stopped her thoughts from delving any further by just sitting herself on the edge of Hope’s bed. 

Hope returned to occupy her chair, this time facing Josie rather than the notebook. “What do you want then?”

Josie shifted uncomfortably under the weight on the tension. “I think we both said some things last night that we didn’t mean.”

“We did?” Hope frowned, appearing as though she didn’t agree with choice of words.

“You know, I’m just going to pretend you didn’t say that.” Josie held her hand up as though to stop Hope from saying anymore. “I didn’t mean what I said, about you being a lost cause.” Hope just blinked at her, so she decided that she had to prompt her. “And I should hope that you didn’t mean what you said either.”  
Again, Hope blinked absently. “Was that all?” She lifted herself from the chair, provoking Josie to get up and leave.

Josie had to bite the inside of her cheeks. Hope really knew how to get to her, but she wasn’t going to let her this time. She could already see the shadow of a triumphed smirk hinting at her lips.

“No, that isn’t all.” Josie stood her ground, gesturing to the chair. “Sit down.”

Any trace of that smirk slipped right off of Hope’s lips and the command, and was replaced with a glare. She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and chewed on it, taking her leisurely time to sit back down and being sure not to break eye contact.

“Hope, I know I can’t reach your humanity by manufacturing a plan.” Josie decided to tell her straight. “It just wouldn’t work.” Hope exhaled, crossing her legs and resting her arms against the chair. “That doesn’t mean that I don’t want to help you, it just means that I know that tricking you isn’t the way to do it.”

Hope raised an eyebrow, seemingly impressed by Josie’s change of heart. “Okay,” 

Josie nodded dumbly. She felt intimated beneath the older girl’s unbreakable hold of eye contact. She didn’t really know where to go from here. “I guess that’s all then,” She got up from the bed, running her hands across her jeans to make sure they hadn’t creased. It was when she saw the notebook again that she got an idea. “What’s this?” She asked as coyly as possible, gesturing towards what was sticking out from beneath the pages.

Hope’s eyes flickered between the notebook and Josie, then back again. When Josie began to approach, Hope seemed to twitch – but she didn’t stop her. So Josie quickly pinched the image and pulled it to the light.

She was right; it was one of the infamous Mikaelson family photos: baby Hope, her father, mother and then her aunt and uncle. Josie was completely taken aback, if she was being honest she wasn’t expecting to be right – and she wasn’t even sure what being right meant going forward. “This is a really cute picture,” Josie settled for saying as she handed the photo back after examining it.

“My cheeks were too chubby,” Hope mumbled, snatching the photo back and quickly shoving it back into its pages.

She rose hurriedly from the chair before Josie could say anything else, opening up the door for her and bidding her to leave. Josie didn’t try to fight it this time and followed the girl towards the door.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Josie made sure to say as she stepped into the hallway.

“Tomorrow?” Hope rushed out. 

Josie almost laughed at Hope’s obliviousness. “We have a soccer game.”

Her lips parted in remembrance. “Right,” She tried to play off before bidding a dismissive farewell, and disappearing behind the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> after a very saddening week, i'm trying to get back into the habit of writing as often as I can. I always end up suffering quite bad with writers block when I've started a new project :( I've been going to a friend of mine to see if they can help motivate/inspire me to write more. I have things in mind for this story of course, sometimes I just struggle putting pen to paper and having it come out the way I want it to.
> 
> anyway, let me know what you think of this weeks chapter and what you're looking forward to seeing with these characters/what you're suspecting will happen.
> 
> see you a week or two.  
> -f.  
> @bewitchinghosie


	13. Chapter 13

Josie couldn’t decipher the right amount of ‘comfortable’ to wear when heading to the main hall. When she and Hope had a movie night, she spent the night and therefore slipped into a pair of pajama shorts and a vest top. She didn’t think that was very appropriate right now, not to mention she would have been freezing. Eventually, she settled for casual comfort and pulled on a pair of leggings and an oversized sweatshirt. She assured herself that it was suitable for the event. 

It was only after she’d pulled the door shut, she hoped that they hadn’t chosen a scary movie. Her teddy bear was still resting comfortably on her bed – and she didn’t think it would go down very well if she brought him into the hall with her. Josie had always been quite precise with time, so it was no surprise to Jade when she turned up outside the doors at 7:00 on the dot.

They greeted each other with a shy smile and murmured ‘hello’s before Jade escorted her into the hall, where there was an array of bean bags positioned in front of a projector.  
There were only around four other vampires there that Josie recognized, but they all seemed to be accompanied by a date – she could tell by the flirtatious giggles and inaudible whispers echoing into against the walls.

“Do you want to share a bean bag or have one each?” Jade pulled her from her thoughts, gesturing to two bean bags in front of them.

“I’ll have my own for now,” She inputted nervously, picking it up and dragging it across the floor to position it next to Jade’s. “So if this is a vampire thing, is Hope not going to be here?”

Hope, being a tribrid, fit into every clan – and they all seemed to get on with her too. So she felt surprised now that she’d realized Hope probably wasn’t coming, she seemed content enough in her room to not be going anywhere.

Jade’s lips parted, her eyes darting to the floor. “Yeah, she doesn’t really know that this is a thing.” 

Josie eyebrows heightened. “You guys didn’t invite her?”

“We haven’t really been hanging out with her since the whole humanity thing,” Jade shrugged. “Not to mention that it’s quite obvious she doesn’t like me.”

Josie tucked up her legs to her chest. “The two of you seemed friendly enough the other night,” She referenced their trip to Mystic Falls.

Jade scrunched up her nose in disagreement, shaking her head. “That was different – it involved the safety of two other people who we both happen to like.”

“I’m glad you managed to set your differences apart when it came to the life or death of your friends,” Josie chuckled. She didn’t want the conversation to get too deep; this was meant to be an enjoyable night. 

Moments later, one of the vampires switched off the light (resulting in a lot of childish ‘oo’s and laughter) to signal the beginning of the film. Josie felt like she was at an actual cinema rather than the main hall of her school.

Josie had to brace herself for what the title of the movie was going to be, considering she wasn’t very good at tolerating horror. She had to stop herself from audibly sighing in relief when ‘The Lost Boys’ appeared on the screen. Lucky for her, this was actually one of her favourites.

She was completely indulged in the movie, as usual, when she felt a cautious hand creeping around her waist. The touch immediately caught her attention, and she side-eyed the girl beside her who was still attempting to rest her hand on Josie’s back. She felt it would be too awkward if she jolted away and made a fuss, so instead she let her. It wasn’t like she was completely grossed out by Jade and didn’t like her at all – she did. Just not like that.

Fortunately enough, that was the only maneuver that Jade attempted – and when the movie ended she willingly slipped her hand away like it had never even been there to begin with.

“I’ve never seen that movie before,” Jade told her as the lights flickered on. 

“Really?” Josie shifted in the bean bag to face Jade. “It’s a classic 80s movie.”

Jade scoffed. “With very poor representation of vampires.” Josie rolled her eyes playfully whilst the other girl stood up, offering her hand out to help Josie out of the bean bag. “I’m really glad that you decided to come.” 

Josie started into a slow walk, inviting Jade to follow her steps. “Thank you inviting me,” 

Jade bit down on her lip as she glanced at the floor and then Josie, deciding whether or not to say more. “So have I given enough hints yet?” 

The younger girl tensed almost instantly, a pit opening in her stomach. She felt as though she knew where this was going. “What do you mean?” She asked dumbly in hopes that Jade wasn’t feeling confident enough to repeat herself. 

“I mean, I think everyone knows but you.” Jade chuckled softly, coming to a stop in front of the doors and therefore forcing Josie to do so, too. “You must have realized by now that I have a crush on you.”

Josie’s lips parted, and she felt the need to take a deep breath. “Right,” She exhaled – way more dismissively than she had meant. Jade already had a look of uncertainty on her face, like she could tell she was about to rejected. “I think you’re a really good person, and I think you’re beautiful.” She began, causing Jade to sigh knowingly. “I just…can’t go there with you right now,”

“Is it because of Hope?” Jade assumed. 

Bewilderment laced all of Josie’s features. “Hope?” She repeated. “What would it have to do with her?”

Jade shrugged defensively, placing her hands in her pockets. “I thought maybe you were feeling some type of way about her,” 

Josie found herself spluttering defenselessly. “Hope? No,” Was all that she got out through those splutters. 

It took Josie a long time to get over her crush on Hope, but to be honest she never even really made a conscious effort to do so. She just started to limit her time with the older girl, and stopped spending so much time thinking about her. It worked out quite well in the end because days after Josie decided this was something she must do; she was informed of a test that was coming up. Hope was one of the last things on her mind then, and studying became more of a priority…though, she did still catch herself seeing flashes of auburn hair and blue eyes whenever she was trying to fall asleep.

Josie, deep down, felt as though the only thing that helped her move on from Hope was distractions. It was always one thing after the other, and soon enough she didn’t have the time to even have a crush anymore.

The vampire arched an eyebrow almost winningly. “Sure,” Luckily for Josie, the two of them silently refrained from pushing the matter any further; and they eventually arrived at the stairway that usually separated their paths. “So, I guess I’ll see you around then.” Jade said almost uncomfortably, turning to face Josie who nodded timidly.

“Thank you, again.” Josie mumbled out, suddenly feeling a lot more awkward in the girl’s presence than she had felt before. Jade forced a tight smile before heading in her own direction, leaving Josie a mess of guilt on the stairway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this is short chapter I'M SORRY i'm having really bad writers block at the minute because i'm fucking awful but anywaysss I hope you enjoyed this chapter :)
> 
> -f.  
> @bewitchinghosie
> 
> p.s. if you're a camren shipper (do we even still exist?), I know now is not the time to plug wattpad lol but I once wrote like three camren stories on there if you want to reminisce on the good ol' camren days <3 unlike this story, 2/3 of them are completed! so that's always a plus.  
> my wattpad username is @bewitchinglmj. i'll catch ya there x


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I kind of had writers block when writing this chapter, so I'm sorry if it's awful or boring. I'm powering through the blockage and trying to stay inspired - I do know where I want to go with this story I'm just struggling to find the words that will get me there.
> 
> let me know what you think of this chapter! and if you haven't already, don't forget to check out the oneshot I've been writing called 'Stuck in the 50s' (it's hosie, obviously)
> 
> -f.  
> @bewitchinghosie

Josie woke up feeling refreshed the next morning. She tried to sleep off the awkwardness she’d felt only a few hours before upon returning home from her movie night, and luckily it had worked. She sort of wanted to completely avoid any and all contact with Jade, considering she felt so guilty about rejecting her, but she knew she wouldn’t be able to do that. 

Still, Josie had more important things to focus on this morning and therefore pushed her worrying thoughts to the back of her mind. She headed down to the library, smiling contently when she noticed how vacant the space was. There was only three other students in there, all crammed together at a table and staring at a selection of opened books spread messily across their table.

They all had a look of pained tension on their faces, and Josie decided that they must have been witches from the grade below her; she remembered that there were posters up in the hallways embedding tomorrows date into the readers head, because there was a test for the junior witches of the school.

She chose a table far away from them and tossed her bag onto the chair to claim it. She wandered over to a very familiar device, and typed in the word ‘Mournling’. Josie only had to wait for a few seconds before an assortment of books stood out from the others, hovering in the air slightly.

She smiled to herself as she picked them from the air and brought them over to the table to set them into a pile. Making sure she was comfortable in her chair, she brushed her hair back over her shoulders. She was well aware that this study session could last awhile, and she wanted to make sure she was ready for it.

‘The Mournling is a supernatural creature who disguises itself as young male adult in order to entice other young, ‘impressionable’ adults. Its purpose is to capture vampires and psychologically torture them to the point where turning off their humanity is their only escape. The creature is not known to have an Achilles heel, so is therefore assumed to be destroyed by the classical removal of the head or heart.’

Josie’s jaw tightened as she read. The idea of Hope being psychologically tortured to breaking point was enough to make her want to end the creature with her own bare hands. 

‘Vampires previously affected by the Mournling are rumoured to have come back around once somebody has talked through the trauma with them – though this may take longer than a few hours. Untreated trauma can result in the vampire never finding their way back to their humanity, which can have catastrophic consequences.’

A light bulb beamed in Josie’s head. How had she not thought of that before trying to trick Hope? An intimate conversation tended to be a step in the right direction – and that is what she had to try with Hope.

-

Lizzie was still limbering up with the rest of the football team when her dad, Alaric, started to round the team up into a circle. “We can’t start the pep talk yet,” Lizzie interrupted before a word had even passed the coach’s (well..her Dad’s) lips. He glanced at her with a creased forehead, confusion and annoyance etched onto his features. “Josie isn’t here.”

Alaric sighed in defeat, doing a quick skim of the field. “Well where is she? The game starts in ten minutes.” He complained as he took a double take of his watch.

“Uh,” Jade raised her hand eagerly. “Hope Mikaelson isn’t here either.”

Lizzie scoffed in realization. “Oh, God.” She brought her hand to her face. “I swear, if the two of them are-“ The words disappeared from her open mouth and fell into oblivion when she spotted Hope making her way across the field – but she was alone.

“That’s one out of two,” Alaric took hold of his clipboard and scribbled on it, assumingly marking Hope’s attendance. “Any idea where Josie is?” He asked Hope once she was stood in front of the team, fiddling with her platted pigtails. 

Hope shrugged carelessly in response. Alaric pursed her lips as he retreated back to scanning the field for any sign of his other daughter. Lizzie decided scowling Hope was the perfect way to pass time, and Hope had no problem with that.

Josie slid into the changing rooms, tossing her bag onto the bench and ripping her gym kit from it whilst trying to kick off her shoes. She kept muttering curse words to herself as she eventually got the kit on, fixed up her hair and raced out to the field.

“I am so sorry,” She confessed breathlessly. Her dad sighed, shaking his head disapprovingly whilst ticking off her name. “I got held up in the library.” She later added, her eyes wandering to Hope who was there to meet her gaze.

Hope was the first to break eye contact by finding an interest in the grass beneath her feet. Josie soon followed, turning her attention to her Dad as he began to speak up. Jade watched the entire thing through narrowed eyes, a jealousy filled pit threatening to spill over in her stomach. She had to swallow in order to rid the bitterness she felt crawling up to her throat.

“As I hope you’re all aware, today we are playing Oak Hills High School.” Alaric resumed reading from the clipboard in front of him, informing the players on the formation he had set up and the formation of the other team.

Josie began to lose interest quite quickly. She already knew the aim of the game, so instead started to turn her attention to the rest of her team mates and tried to analyse their body language. 

Jade stood tall with her hands behind her back and her chin pointed upwards. She was a clearly confident character, which was obvious even before now. Hope had her body weight shifted onto her right leg, and was standing with her head cocked to the side. She blatantly did not want to be here, and found this just as time consuming as Josie. But Josie sucked it up because she wanted to make her Dad happy, so did Lizzie who was standing with pursed lips and her hand resting on her hips.

“And as always,” Her Dad’s voice came back to her attention once she left her daydream. “The goal…is to not score any,” He took a step closer to the team and lowered his voice to a barely audible level.

Everyone nodded along absentmindedly, leaning into pile their hands on top of one another’s and yelling ‘break!’ before assuming their positions on the field. Josie knew from word-of-mouth that Oak Hills were a pretty tough team – in every sense of the word. She’d heard that they liked to play dirty, and that they got away with a lot of the time. So she put her game face on, and rested her hands on her knees whilst waiting for the game to start.

As soon as it did, everything roared into action. Everything was happening quickly, people running, tossing the ball, tackling – she didn’t really know where to look. She saw flashes of MG and Kaleb racing past her, whilst Lizzie and Hope kept their eye on the ball and tried to follow it – Jade was doing the same, so Josie felt compelled to abide by them and mimic their movements.

Josie soon found herself enjoying how fast paced the game was going because everyone seemed way more invested in it than usual. It was definitely inspiring her to take more of a part in the game play and she even wound up gesturing to Jade to toss her the ball; though as soon as she caught it and spotted a buff looking Oak Hills player charging towards her, she launched the ball in MG’s direction. 

But not before the player had landed a rather harsh tackle that sent her flying backwards into the ground before, hitting it with a powerful thud that winded her completely. Her opponent quickly pulled herself up, but Josie lay breathless on the ground with her eyes squeezed shut. She felt as though she’d been hit by a bus, not a seventeen year old. 

The referee blew his whistle in response to the tackle, sprinting towards Josie along with a few of her teammates. She could barely even focus on the clusters of conversation that were beginning to break out between the players and the referee, and she just about heard the referee asking if she was okay. She was too focused on trying to remember how to breathe without her chest sending waves of pain through her ribs. 

“I’ll take her to the nurse’s office,” A voice that she recognised as Jade's spoke up, and Josie managed to peel her eyes open once she realized she’d have to try and stand.

A silhouette of Jade leaned down and offered out her hand which Josie took hesitantly – she was kind of scared she would fall right back down if she tried to stand up now. Her head felt fuzzy, and her stomach felt like it had sunken further into her.

To her surprise, she actually started to feel better once she was on her feet. Everything came back into view – she spotted her dad in a bicker with the Oak Hills coach, she guessed about the tackle, whilst some of her teammates continued to confront the referee on the matter.

Hope was standing restlessly near the referee, her hands on her hips as she waited for the entire thing to be over. Josie wandered whether Hope had tried to confront the referee too. She noticed Hope's eyes start to follow hers and Jade’s movements once she realized that they were going somewhere together. Jade had one arm on Josie’s shoulder and the other on her forearm as she steadily guided her off the field and back into the school.

-  
Josie sat on the edge of the medical bed in the nurse’s office, dangling her feet childishly. She’d already been given the once over by the nurse who had told her that she was completely fine, minus some quite minor bruising.

The nurse was now rummaging through her cabinet for some pain killers whilst Jade stood resting against the wall, waiting for Josie to be dismissed. “I think I might have some in the storage room if you don’t mind waiting a minute,” The nurse told Josie, a very innocent smile in a permanent place on her lips.

Josie nodded hurriedly, wanting nothing more than to get her prescription and go. The older woman rushed out of the room as though she had read Josie’s mind. Tipping her head back to rest against the wall behind her, Josie let out a sigh. “I can’t believe I got tackled that hard.”

Jade chuckled from across the room. “You weigh like 84 pounds; I’m not surprised a tackle like that took you out.” Josie felt a dip beside her as Jade perched herself up onto the bed.

She felt a shooting pain when she tried to laugh, and instantly winced at the feeling. “God, I hate this.” She held her hand against her ribs and hoped it would somehow soothe the pain.

“Are you okay?” Jade brought an aiding hand to Josie’s back. “Just try and take it easy.”

Josie did as she was told and steadily rested herself against the wall again. “Lizzie is either going to completely baby me over the next few days, or abandon me completely.” She grinned softly. “There’s no in between with her.”

The vampire rolled her eyes. “If she decides to abandon you, you know where my room is.” 

Josie tensed up. She’d almost forgotten that Jade had a crush on her; or maybe this was just her being a friend. Josie had never really been good at telling when people were flirting with her, and when they were just being nice. “Thank you,”

It was silent for a few seconds before Jade spoke up again. “If you actually liked me back, I’d probably do a better job at taking care of you than Lizzie would.” It was clear in her voice that she was smirking, which gave Josie the hope that Jade was only messing around and not actually coming onto her again.

“More fool me, huh?” She settled on saying.

Fortunately, the nurse returned just in time to hand Josie her prescription and send the two girls on their way. Jade headed back onto the pitch whilst Josie sat the rest of the game out on the bench, feeling useless and bruised.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> T/W - mention of past psychological trauma and perhaps PTSD (??)

The game ended just as Alaric had wanted to, with Oak Hills in the lead. Josie headed back into the changing room before anyone else, congratulating her team and then throwing her original outfit back on swiftly.

She’d kept a cautious eye on Hope, making sure the tribrid had left before she did. She hadn’t forgotten about her research on the Mournling, and she’d decided that she was going to make use of the new knowledge today.

Josie waited a few more minutes, trying to estimate how long it would take Hope to get back to her dorm room. She tapped her foot restlessly as she examined her surroundings; there were only a few others left in the changing rooms that were taking their time.

As soon as Josie spotted Lizzie throwing on the last of her garments, she slipped out of the room in an attempt to avoid her. She knew Lizzie would ask her a series of questions if Josie told her where she was heading. She was stood outside of Hope’s room within minutes, and knocked on the door hurriedly. Hope answered in a matter of seconds, and just like Josie had assumed, she’d had time to get into something more comfy.

“Was seeing me at the game not enough?” Hope clipped, leaving the door open enough for Josie to slip in and sit herself down on the bed, which she did.

Josie rolled her eyes, tossing her backpack to the ground. “Don’t flatter yourself.”

Hope watched through squinted eyes as Josie made herself more comfortable. “Yeah sure, make yourself at home.” She sighed with no real ounce of annoyance, leaning back in her chair.

“I just came here to have a conversation with you,” Josie approached softly. “Can I do that without having to tolerate your witty remarks?”

“Well, I was under the impression that I wouldn’t have to see you again today.” Hope justified her attitude as best she could. “I thought Jade was going to take care of you, after you went and got yourself tackled.”

Josie’s eyebrows drew together. “Why would you think that?” She definitely hadn’t had the time to mention to anyone what Jade had said to her at the nurses office.

“She took you to first aid.” Hope shrugged. “And don’t forget, you know where she is if Lizzie abandons you during your time of need,” A cunning smile slid onto her lips as she teased the witch in front of her.

It took Josie a minute to catch on, but her jaw dropped slightly once she did. “How did you even hear that?”

Hope looked at Josie, almost dumbfounded. “I’m a tribrid…” She felt as though she had to remind her. “I have awesome powers.”

Josie scoffed at her vanity. “I’m more perplexed as to why you even felt the need to listen in,”

Hope’s lips parted as a flash of panic etched its way onto her face. She opened her mouth to answer, and then closed it again. “What do you want anyway?”

Josie found herself having second thoughts now. Something about Hope’s presence was still so intimidating and unnerving. She feared the harshness of Hope’s impending rejection as she reveals that she is still almost knee-deep in studying the monster that gave Hope this newfound sense of arrogance and bitterness. A large majority of her refused to believe that Hope was a lot cause, but there was still that tiny piece of her that told her it was true.

“Maybe I should just go,” She suddenly heard herself saying, rising quickly from her spot on the bed. Her mind was racing with these thoughts; anyone else rejecting her help wouldn’t bother her nearly half as much as Hope doing it – but this was a different matter. There was something bigger at stake here, if Hope laughed in her face at Josie still even trying to rouse something. 

The sound of her footsteps hitting Hope’s wooden floor echoed in her ears to an almost deafening extent. She could practically feel the tribrid’s stare burning into the back of her head. She was just reaching for the door handle when Hope finally spoke up.

“Wait,” 

Josie did. She dropped her hand back to her side, turning to face the older girl who was still staring up at her unmoving. Time finally caught up to them, and Hope gave in. “Just sit back down. I hate it when people don’t tell me something,” She huffed and readjusted her position on the chair.

Now Josie didn’t even know where to start. She sunk into the bed. “Don’t get mad,” was the first thing that came out of her mouth, and Hope arched an eager   
eyebrow. “But I’ve been looking into the Mournling, and I read some stuff about it that just…haunted me.” Hope let out a breath that Josie hadn’t noticed she had been holding. “The psychological trauma that you must have gone through to turn off your humanity,” Josie closed her eyes momentarily as a shudder passed through her at the thought. “And you’ve never even spoken about it.”

Hope shrugged when Josie finally locked eyes with her again. “What good is talking about it going to do?”

Josie frowned. “Well…that’s what people who go through trauma are encouraged to do.” She explained, watching as Hope began to shift uncomfortably. She didn’t want to push Hope over the edge, so decided to wait a few more minutes before speaking up again. “I know I’ve already said this but, I was in the wrong when I tried to trick you into feeling emotion.” Josie spoke softly. Hope’s bowed head lifted ever so slightly, allowing their eyes to meet. “I never should have done that. I should have just tried to get you to talk about it.”

Hope straightened her back, pointing her chin upwards as though to gain back a sense of togetherness. She still didn’t say anything in return, and Josie didn’t know where to go from here. She really wanted Hope to talk, but she knew that this was something that could take awhile. She had to have patience. “I wouldn’t really know where to start,” She told her. 

Josie tried not to appear as enthused as she was feeling. Not that Hope’s misery made her happy, but she was feeling a strong eagerness – Hope was finally going to talk about what happened, which was a big step towards getting her back to her usual self.

“Just…start with what you remember.” Josie tried to encourage, though this was also a first for her. She’d helped Lizzie through her occasional episodes, but that was sort of a completely different ball game. 

“I remember everything.” Hope started. “I remember everything that he put in my head, I remember how real it felt, and I remember how excruciating the hurt was.” Her voice didn’t waver at all. It was like she’d had this conversation a million times before; it rolled off her tongue so collectively. It worried Josie how emotionless she still appeared. 

Hope just sat there looking at her. Josie began to shift under the heaviness of the atmosphere, but willed herself to carry on the conversation. She couldn’t tell whether this was Hope actually attempting to talk about it, or whether it was some twisted, coded way of her proving that what she went through broke her beyond repair. 

“Well…” Josie fidgeted with the bed sheets beneath her fingers. “Tell me everything then,”

The tribrid’s face faltered. Josie could almost see the façade crumbling in front of her, but Hope quickly glued the pieces back together by clenching her jaw and narrowing her eyes. “At first it was Landon,” She said. “And him getting killed in front of me with the golden arrow.” Josie flinched at that alone, already knowing how much that must have hurt Hope. “I couldn’t save him.” She added, just above a whisper.

“I begged him to stop.” Hope continued. “I knew I wouldn’t be able to handle whatever he had in store for me.” Her voice was still unwavering, though she sighed. “And then she showed my mom dying.” Josie squeezed her eyes shut, her heart swooping into the pit of her stomach. She really wanted to kill this fucking thing. “But I still didn’t turn it off,” Hope scoffed illegibly. 

Josie waited for her to carry on, but she didn’t for awhile. She’d turned her attention to the window, and was staring at it blankly. Josie didn’t mind waiting patiently for Hope to start talking again.

However, it felt like a long while had passed and Josie felt compelled to edge Hope on. “There was one more, wasn’t there?” She encouraged softly. Hope almost jolted at the disruption, turning to face Josie once more. 

She nodded blatantly. “Yeah,” 

“Who was it?” Josie found herself edging forward, almost like she was waiting to catch the words that were on the tip of Hope’s tongue.

“It was-“ 

A knock on the door caused both of the girls to jump. Hope instinctively pushed herself back to the desk, whilst Josie scooted away from the edge of the bed. 

“Lights out Hope,” Alaric instructed from the other side of the door, and then left just as quickly. 

Hope ran her hand through her hair as she distractedly stacked the three books on her desk into a pile. “You should get going,”

Josie bowed her head in annoyance. She had just got Hope talking, and now she may have to start from scratch tomorrow. “We were just getting somewhere,” She mumbled.

“And now it’s lights out.” Hope got up from the chair, pushing it into its slot at the desk. 

Unwillingly, she stood up from the bed and made her way towards the door which Hope opened up for her. She was just about to leave when she stopped herself. “Please don’t wake up tomorrow and erase this,” Josie surprised herself by saying.

Hope’s eyebrows etched together, but she nodded abidingly. “Okay,”

Josie couldn’t really argue with that. She just had to hope that she meant it, and so she gave a soft smile before slipping into the hallway and heading back towards her own dorm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you were all pretty unhappy about not having any hosie these past few chapters, so I wanted to provide you with what you come here for - and some plot progress! yay. the next update might take awhile but it'll come.
> 
> this chapter is a lot of dialogue i'm SORRY 
> 
> -f.  
> @bewitchinghosie


	16. Chapter 16

Josie was in a lot of pain when she woke the next morning. She felt just as breathless and bruised as she did when she was tackled to the ground, and so she quickly (yet cautiously) sat up and reached for the prescribed painkillers that were waiting for her on her bedside table.

“She got you good,” Lizzie commented from across the room, mostly focusing on herself in the mirror as she put her earrings in. Josie just nodded; too busy chugging on a bottle of water to help get the tablets down. “Well I guess that means you get to pull a sicky on today’s classes.”

Josie frowned as she pried herself from the cosiness of her bed, earning a confused scowl from her sister. “Why would I do that?”

Lizzie tilted her head to side, continuing to eye-up her appearance in the mirror as she slimmed down her skirt. “Because that’s what any normal teenager would do.”

Rolling her eyes as she made her way towards the closet, Josie sighed. “I’m not going to bore myself by sitting in all day. I actually enjoy my classes.”

“Nerd.” Lizzie scoffed disapprovingly. 

Deciding to ignore her sister's cruel remark, Josie pulled out an outfit and proceeded to get ready just as Lizzie left for her first class of the day. The newfound quietness of the room allowed Josie’s mind to wander back to the events of the night before. She still couldn’t really believe that she’d managed to get Hope to talk, and she hoped it was something they were able to continue – though she had her doubts. Hope was quite unpredictable these days.

Josie checked the time on her watch, pleased to find that there was still some time left between then and the start of class for her to grab something to eat from the kitchen. It was always peacefully quiet at 09:00, because most classes started at 08:30.

She sighed contently at the silence absorbing the spacious kitchen, and took all the time in the world when preparing her breakfast. She grabbed herself a slice of bread and placed it into the toaster. She started scanning the room for something to put on her toast, and eventually spotted a tin of beans. So she started rooting through the drawers for a tin opener, swearing that they actually owned one and beamed a bright smile when she finally got a hold of it. Halfway through opening the tin as cautiously as she could, the toaster popped.

Her hand slipped as she jolted in surprise, and the lid of the tin flew off and sliced her palm on the way. She sucked in a breath, dropping the tin opener onto the cabinet. 

The blood started seeping off her hand quite quickly, but she managed to toss the beans into the refrigerator and the tin opener back in the draw before racing out of the kitchen to find a bandage.

By the time she’d gotten herself fixed up at the nurse’s office, it was too late to even grab breakfast. She was already five minutes late, actually. So she suckled her way through first period, trying her best not to get embarrassed every time her stomach rumbled loudly whenever her teacher stopped talking.

-

Hope hadn’t expected to wake up as early as she did. Her first class of the day didn’t start until 11:30, still here she was wide awake at 8. She tried her best to fall back to sleep, but when her eyes continued to pop back open even ten minutes later, she willed herself to get up.

She lounged around for awhile, flicking through a book at the side of her bed that she’d already read a million times before. It had been a gift from her father for her tenth birthday, and she had continued to read it at least once a year since then – though that was plain to see; the spine was cracked, and the pages never closed fully. She had to force the book to stay closed by placing a pumpkin scented candle on top of it.

Huffing in visible restlessness, Hope decided her best bet for passing time would be to go and get herself some breakfast (which for her was of course, a bag of animal blood) and then head to the library to finish studying for the pop quiz she knew was happening that day. 

That’s how she wanted her morning to go, anyway. 

She threw on a pair of black leggings, brushed her hair out and left the dorm room. She peered into the kitchen, letting out a sigh of relief when she saw that it was empty (except for an abandoned, cold piece of toast peeping out of the toaster). Sometimes she caught herself in the rush of breakfast hour, which annoyed her for two main reasons. One: because she was a normal person who hated any form of ‘rush hour’, and two: because she was still trying to adapt to her new superior hearing. She didn’t know how to turn down the volume on that thing yet.

She scurried towards the freezer, tugging the door open and slipping inside so that she could walk a little further and grab a blood bag from the patch that wasn’t closest to the door. Alaric always put the freshest stuff further down so that people would drink the ones that would soon need throwing out.

Hope was just about to leave when the label on her sweatshirt started to irritate her neck. She ignored it at first, but eventually huffed impatiently at the constant scratching. She tossed her blood bag on the counter to reach behind herself and rip the label from the neckline. 

She smiled, satisfied with herself when she was able to toss the label into the trash. As she retrieved her blood bag from the counter, she noticed a small splash of blood vandalizing the marble beneath it. Not wanting to leave a mess in the kitchen, especially when it was blood, Hope dragged her finger across it to salvage as much as she could before cleaning the rest up with a piece of kitchen cloth.

She’d just placed her finger in her mouth when her senses were suddenly overwhelmed with something she had not felt in awhile. It was like she had just been injected with a shot of adrenaline. She lost all care for the blood bag in her hand, which crashed to the ground beneath her.

Blood absorbed her taste buds before slipping down her throat. It wasn’t thin and bitter like animal blood, she knew that instantly. It had a kick – one that she could’ve sworn was familiar. She knew seconds after tasting it that this was not animal blood. It was smooth, like liquid velvet – and it was Heaven…or Hell. 

Hope’s breathing had become very erratic. She was gripping the edges of the counter to the point where her knuckles were turning white. She felt paralyzed by the feeling she thought she had forgotten.

All she could do was watch her reflection in the marble of the counter as her eyes flickered golden, and her fangs started to graze her bottom lip as they extended.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> idek if americans eat beans on toast...anyways!
> 
> i'll try to post another chapter next week or but i'm working quite long hours this coming week, so I don't know how much free time I'm going to get.
> 
> we all love a cliffhanger though.
> 
> \- f.  
> @bewitchinghosie
> 
> p.s also wanted to give my friend some credit for helping me out with this chapter <3


	17. Chapter 17

Alaric interrupted Josie’s finally period. She hadn’t even noticed at first, too embedded in her studies on ‘chemistry of magic’ to hear the door opening.

“Guys,” Her father’s voice engulfed the attention of the students, now also including Josie who he immediately locked eyes with. “I need to know if any of you have talked to Hope Mikaelson today.”

Josie’s facial features dropped. She glanced around the room, her head almost doing a 360 before settling on her father again, anticipating his response to everyone shrugging their shoulders and mumbling whispers to one another.

“It’s nothing to necessarily be worried about,” He attempted to soothe, his hands facing outwards as he hushed the class with just his hand motions. “She’s on campus and she is safe, she just hasn’t attended any of her scheduled classes and we would like to know why – considering she won’t open the door to Emma or me.”

Again, the class shrugged their shoulders in response. Alaric looked again at Josie, who stared back with widened puppy dog eyes. He gave her a tight smile of poor reassurance, before thanking the class and her teacher and disappearing out the door again.

Josie clock watched the entire final hour of her class. She was itching to leave and find out what was happening with Hope – she hadn’t missed one scheduled class for an entire two weeks, she knows that because her dad leaves everyone’s attendance record on his desk – and Hope’s had been the one getting checked on the most…for obvious reasons.

He’d been fooled into thinking Hope was getting better way before she actually was, but he’d also still been keeping an extra eye on her – he’d made sure the entire faculty where. Although he often appeared distant, Alaric did his best to stay familiar with all of his student’s attendance, punctuality and achievement habits. Of course with Hope’s circumstances, any of these things being irregular may have been seen as a greater cause for concern than if it was another student.

Which is why as soon as more than one teacher reported Hope’s unexpected absence from class, he was right on it like a moth to a flame.

He’d tried knocking on her door at least three times whilst calling her name, and then he got Emma to do the same. When Hope called out for them to leave her alone, they tried to force entry – but Hope had spellbound the door.

“Dad,” Josie called as she tapped on his office door.

“Come on in,” He straightened up the documents of Hope’s file once he was done reading through them, and stacked it on top of the others.

Josie fidgeted with her fingers as she sat herself down on one of the chairs opposite his desk. “Is Hope okay?”

Alaric sighed. “I don’t know. She won’t tell me,” He rested his arms on either side of his chair. “You’ve been spending a lot of time with her lately.” Josie’s features etched together, unsure of what he was approaching. “Do you think we should be worrying about her?”

She chewed on her bottom lip, hesitant. “She’s been fine lately. I’d say this was out of character,”

Alaric nodded abidingly. “Maybe you should try and talk to her.” He decided nonchalantly. Josie seemed more panicked than him now. “If nothing changes within the next few hours, we’ll see if you and Lizzie can siphon the spell from her door.”

Josie could do nothing but nod, and then took her father’s tight smile and nod of the head as her dismissal. So she left and started making her way back to her dorm room. 

She contemplated taking the short way, which would take her straight to her dorm without passing by any rooms which may be…tempting. And she almost went with it, really she did – but then she settled on going the long way, which meant bypassing Hope’s room.

Josie walked past twice, trying to decide whether or not knocking was a good idea. But eventually she was delivering three knocks to the door, followed by a cautiously voiced: 

“Hope, are you in there?” It was silent on the other side of the door. Josie waited at least five seconds before knocking again. “Hope, open up.” 

She waited, and waited a little more. She was almost about to knock again when she heard approaching footsteps coming from the room, followed by the click of a door opening in front of her.

Hope eyed her up and down with no glimmer of a warm welcome on her face. The gush of air caused by the opening door allowed Hope’s senses to be engulfed by Josie’s scent, which normally smelt like an indistinguishable perfume, but Hope’s eyes instantly flew down to the bloodied bandage wrapped around Josie’s palm. The smell easily overpowered the perfume Josie wore, which actually just gave a bitter kick to the smell of the blood. 

“What do you want, Jo?” Hope asked, her grip tightening on the door frame. It hadn’t really hit her yet that the blood she tasted in the kitchen belonged to Josie, she was too busy fighting back the veins that were threatening to bulge beneath her eyes, and the golden glimmer wanting to spill over and mix with the blueness of her iris.

The lack of warmth in her voice was something the younger siphoner hadn’t heard in awhile, and hadn’t wanted to hear again.

Josie, in all the time that she had known Hope, had never once found her unattractive. Hope always managed to look beautiful – and she even thought so now, as the older girl stood before her in an oversized sweatshirt, tight fitting leggings and her hair tied back in a messy bun.

However, Josie thought that Hope looked drained: drained of colour, drained of emotion, drained of energy. She’d never really saw her look this way before. 

“What’s going on?” Josie asked, taking a step forward only for Hope to back away and pull the door closer towards her – a silent way of telling Josie she wouldn't be getting invited in today. The younger girl tried to ignore the pang of pain she got in her chest in response to the action. 

“Nothing, I took the day off.” Hope excused herself, not really looking Josie in the eye.

Josie involuntarily tilted her head to the side; taking in Hope’s worn out features. She had bags under her eyes that definitely weren’t there yesterday, and her lips were chapped and completely emptied of colour. “Hope, you look like you haven’t slept – or drank.” Josie confronted as softly as she could, she even tried to reach out to get a better look but Hope swatted her hand away like she was trying to kill a pestering fly. To Hope, all she saw was a bloodied bandage coming towards her – and a smell of blood overwhelming her senses even more than before.

She had been trying to ignore the injury, but it was an uncomfortably familiar scent. She knew after seconds of smelling it that it was the same blood from this morning, a blood stronger and tastier than that of animal.

Hope decided against drinking any kind of blood after the incident, and she knew that was why she was looking so run down. She didn’t want the animal blood. She knew what she wanted – and it was something she couldn’t have, it was something she wished she wasn’t craving.

Wanting human blood scared her now that she was getting more in touch with her humanity; it still wasn’t back, but it was just about out of reach. She knew that satisfying her want for human blood would take her back to square one, and she didn’t want to feel that engulfment of darkness again.

“Don’t do that,” Hope bit. “I just don’t want to talk to you.” She clipped as an afterthought, her tone rising slightly which caused Josie to take a reflexive step back. Hope tried to act as though the response didn’t make her wince. “Will you just leave me alone?” 

Josie pulled her bottom lip between her teeth. She gave Hope the once over, hoping to see a change in her uninviting stance, but there wasn’t. So she bowed her head and disappeared down the hallway, only looking back once Hope had closed the door.

-

There was an announcement over the speakers the next morning. Alaric ordered the following students to attend the assembly hall at once: Lizzie Saltzman, Josie Saltzman, Hope Mikaelson, Milton Greasley and Kaleb Hawkins. 

MG and Josie were in study hall together, and exchanged bewildered glances as they gathered their belongings. They were the first out of the five to arrive.< Alaric acknowledged them with only a smile before looking back down at the papers in his hand. Josie and MG hurried to sit down and waited anxiously for the other two to arrive.

Lizzie and Kaleb were next. Kaleb seemed quite content, whilst Lizzie was wearing a look of agony and dread. It was clear that she didn’t have a good feeling about this as they sat themselves down next to MG, not bothering to greet anyone in the room. 

Then they had to wait for Hope. They waited, and waited…and then they waited a little more. Alaric was about to dismiss her and begin, until the door flew open and she strolled in lifelessly.

Josie sighed. Hope looked just as rough as the night before, if not worse – she even saw her dad scrunch his nose at the girl’s appearance.

“Thank you for meeting me on such short notice,” Alaric began once Hope had sat down – she made a point to sit at the very back, whilst the other three were only two rows from the front. “I wouldn’t call you here like this had I not found the matter urgent.” 

He addressed them way too formally for Josie’s liking; she hated that she sometimes felt as though she wasn’t even his daughter. Alaric took a deep breath. “We’ve received word that the Mournling is a couple of towns over is Bridgepeak.” 

There was a sudden heaviness in the room. No one spoke. Alaric just glanced at everyone a couple of times before talking again. “I’ve called you all here because I want you to come with me, so we can hunt him down and put an end the torment he has been inflicting.” His eyes settled on Hope when he said that, but only for a couple of seconds. “This isn’t mandatory. Anyone who doesn’t feel comfortable attending can raise their hand now, and I’ll count you out.”

He paused for a moment, allowing anyone who wanted to be dismissed a moment to say so. Josie didn’t put her hand up, neither did Lizzie, MG or Kaleb. She subtly turned her head, wanting to see Hope from her peripheral vision. Hope hadn’t raised a hand either.

“Well, then it’s settled. We’re going to Bridgepeak.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> idek if this chapter was longer than yesterdays but I've just finished eight hour shift at work and I am BEAT. I'm that tired I can't even tell whether my writing was good or bad in this chapter.
> 
> let me know what you thought <33 I promise, I'll try to do a longer chapter when I next update. I suck I know
> 
> -f.  
> @bewitchinghosie


	18. Chapter 18

They set off as soon as they could. Alaric gave everyone an hour to gather their things, telling them that they would probably be gone for a night or two. Whilst they sorted out their belongings, Alaric wrote off their authorized absences on the system.

When they all arrived at the car, Alaric was stood with a clipboard. “I’ve organized a motel. The rooms are as follows: MG and Kaleb in one room,” He announced, causing the boys to share a head nod of approval. “Hope, Lizzie and Josie in another,” Alaric looked up momentarily when Lizzie let out a very loud, disapproving huff. “And me in another.” 

“I am not sharing a room with those two,” Lizzie voiced. Josie scoffed defensively. “Can I just share with you?”

Alaric rubbed at his face impatiently. Hope sighed almost inaudibly, shifting her weight restlessly. “I’ll try and see if I can make it a twin room.”

Lizzie flashed an award winning smile, thanking her father before tossing her bag in the trunk along with everyone else’s and hopping in the minivan.  


Josie sat herself down next to Lizzie, then MG sat beside her and Kaleb sat beside him. Hope was sat on the end seat, leaving more than enough space between herself and Josie.

“Why don’t you want to share with me and Hope?” Josie asked her sister, leaning in to ensure the conversation was private.

Lizzie glared at her like she had just asked a barbaric question. “Well considering you’ve been obsessing over her for like three weeks now – I’d rather not feel as though I’m stuck in some weird, awful scene from twilight.” She explained. “I’ve barely uttered two words to her since this whole…incident.”

Josie couldn’t think of anything to say in defense. She tried to, but just ended up closing her mouth again. 

Instead she put her earphones in and tried to erase the invasive thoughts that not only would she be sharing a room with Hope tonight, she might also cross paths with the monster who had broken her best friend.

After about an hour into the drive, Josie pulled out her earphones restlessly. She couldn’t think of anymore songs she wanted to listen to, so instead looked around to see how the others were keeping themselves entertained.

Lizzie had her earphones in whilst she flicked through, what Josie liked to call, trashy magazines. She’d brought at least five with her – though the idea of borrowing one for a few minutes didn’t interest Josie in the slightest.

MG and Kaleb were on their Nintendo Switches, and seemed to be playing against each other in a game. Every now and then one would shove the other, trying to knock the console out their hand. They’d click their tongues in disapproval, or laugh cockily when they were beating the other.

Hope had her rested against the window which she was looking out of, earphones embedded in her ears. She seemed miles away, her eyelids heavy as she took in the views they were driving past. 

She looked even worse than she had the past few days – her skin now almost completely drained of colour and her lips dry and cracked.

Josie felt her heart dive into her stomach and hide away at the sight. Had Hope not been drinking blood? 

She wasn’t sure how long a vampire could go without feeding, whether it was a few days or a few weeks – but either way, seeing Hope so run down and powerless didn’t sit well with her; especially when she knew that they could be facing the Mournling in a few hours.

Deciding that there was nothing else entertaining for her to do, Josie sat with her hands in her lap for the rest of the journey – which lasted for another hour at most. 

Alaric pulled up outside of a decrepit looking motel. Only three of the letters of the sign were lit up, the rest completely dead and covered in some kind of algae.  


Still, it was a place to stay and Josie was just grateful that they actually had somewhere to stay. She followed Lizzie, who stepped out of the minivan first. Josie didn’t realize just how stuffy the inside of the van had been until she was hit with fresh, crisp air.

Everyone stood and waited for Alaric to give them some kind of instruction, but he simply beckoned them to follow him to the check-in counter where they all received their own room key.

Lizzie got her wish, and was able to room with Alaric in an extra spacious twin room (which had cost him an additional $20). 

Josie didn’t really know how to feel about it; on one hand she felt kind of relieved because she definitely wouldn’t have been able to stand the childish insults Lizzie would throw at Hope, though she still seemed petrified of the tribrid. 

And on the other hand she was worried that with the way Hope had been acting the past few days, they might have wound back to the way things were when her humanity had shut off: uncomfortable and eerie. 

Alaric told everyone to go and get settled in their rooms, and then be back out by the minivan in an hour. So Josie waited for Hope to make the first move, because they were eventually the only two left standing in the parking lot.

Hope looked over at Josie with a look of annoyance, and then sighed loudly as she fixed the key into her hand and started towards their assigned room. 

She nudged at the door after turning the key, which opened with an irritated creak, and left it that way for Josie to follow in.

The both of them chose a bed silently (Josie had to let out a sigh of gratitude when the beds were confirmed to be singles) and tossed their bags at either side of them. 

Josie internally decided that she already couldn’t bare the awkward tension in the room, so was about to go and hunt down Lizzie and bully her about rooming with their dad when Hope began to cough.

It didn’t really sound like just a throat tickle. It sounded grated and rough to the point where it stopped Josie in her tracks – and then the coughing stopped just a few seconds later, and Hope went back to picking some clothes out of her bag like nothing had happened.

“What the hell was that?” Josie asked her, concern etched on her face. 

“A cough.” Hope stated obviously. Her voice was visibly scratched from the heaviness of the cough. “Can I not do that or something?” They’d barely made eye contact as Hope was too focused on unpacking.

“That didn’t sound very minor,” Josie took a step towards her. “Are you getting sick?” She asked before remembering that technically speaking, Hope was dead.  


Hope paused, giving Josie the most dumbfounded stare which made her want to shrivel up with embarrassment and never speak again. 

“Sorry,” Josie mumbled.

“I’m not sick.” She defended anyway. “I’m just tired.”

Josie shimmied herself to the edge of Hope’s bed and sat down cautiously, waiting for a second for Hope to tell her to move. All that she did was give her the once over, though.

“Well aren’t you sleeping?” Josie wondered, wanting to get to the bottom of why Hope looked so dreadful (though she still found herself in complete awe of her features).

Hope huffed irritably, clearly growing bored of the topic. “I’m sleeping fine.”

“Okay,” Josie altered her tone, also getting fed up but at Hope’s defensive ways. “Are you feeding?”

There was a pause. Hope almost stopped what she was doing and made eye contact with her ‘interrogator’, but she didn’t. She cleared her throat and placed her bag on the ground.

“You’re not, are you?” Josie approached her more softly now. “Why?”

"I’m not hungry.” Hope argued, blunt. 

“Well, when you don’t eat you lose a lot of your vampire privileges.” Josie felt compelled to tell her. She was sure that Hope knew this already  
.  


It was confirmed when Hope nodded along inattentively. “Did all those books you read make you some kind of expert?” Hope teased her dryly, flopping down onto a very uncomfortable bed. She scrunched her nose up at the firmness of the mattress.

Josie was almost offended, but took a deep breath to keep her cool. “I’m just saying that not drinking blood will kill you eventually.”

“I’m already dead.” Hope returned with a shadow of a smirk. 

They still hadn’t locked eyes, which was beginning to frustrate Josie. She felt as though they weren’t even really talking.

“You know what I mean,” She returned, now aggravated. “You have a free supply of animal blood, you should be using it.” Josie stood up to retreat to her own bed.

Hope scoffed, resting her head on the pillow and closing her eyes. “Animal blood is useless – we get just about half our vampire abilities drinking that shit.”

Josie looked back at her, only to not get looked at in return. She couldn’t think of a defense to something she knew was true, so settled for not saying anything at all. 

She rested on the bed, also very unsatisfied with the lack of comfortableness it was giving her. Minutes had past when she started to hear Hope beginning to breathe heavily. 

The older girl was lying on her back, her head facing Josie. Her eyes were closed and her arms were placed around the back of her head – her chest rising, and then falling at a steady pace.

Josie laughed quietly at the sight, but couldn’t get to sleep herself. Instead she stared at the four walls around her (all tackily decorated with pictures of nearby fields and cottages) whilst hoping that nothing loud enough to rouse Hope from her slumber would occur.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you asked for longer chapters so I hope this suffices <3 
> 
> -f.  
> @bewitchinghosie


	19. Chapter 19

Josie must have eventually drifted into a nap, because a loud pounding on the door startled her to the point where she nearly flew off the bed.

Hope had sat up ten times faster than Josie, and despite seeming a little taken aback she was nowhere near as alarmed as Josie was.

“Come on, you idiots.” Lizzie called from the other side of the door. “We’re leaving in five.”

Hope rubbed tiredly at her eyes, stretching her arms and back before rising from the bed. Josie did the same, feeling even more unmotivated to go hunting for a manipulative monster right now.

Still, they did what they had been brought to Bridgepeak to do. It was only a ten minute drive into the town centre, so they were there before they knew it. 

“The last recorded sighting was at Bridepeak High,” Alaric spoke lowly to the group as they made their way through the very quiet town square.

They spent at least two hours sneaking around the centre in a desperate attempt to find any kind of trace of the creature, but came up with nothing. 

As soon as everyone grew restless and discouraged, Alaric called it a day. 

Lizzie insisted that they all stop by an ice cream parlour, which peaked all their interests and put a smile back on their faces. Josie was pleased to see Hope ordering one too, until she remembered that it was blood she needed to bring the colour back to her face. It was a start…she guessed.

It was getting dark by the time they returned to the motel. Hope and Josie resumed their previous positions on their beds, this time turning on the obsolete looking TV in the corner of the room. 

They could only get three channels on it: two of them were showing the news, and the third was showing the 1981 horror: 'An American Werewolf in London'.  


It was Hope who had control over the TV, and Josie guessed that the movie seemed appealing to her because she set the remote down on the bed after realizing what was being shown.

Neither of them had said anything to each other for hours now. Josie didn’t like that very much. “Do you know this movie?” She settled for saying.

“Yeah, my dad showed me it.” Hope told her distantly, appearing very engrossed in what was taking place on the screen.

Josie nodded along, already running dry on things to say. Plus, the movie was getting kind of scary – Hope must have forgotten by now that Josie couldn’t watch anything horror related unless she had her favourite cuddly toy with her. 

She felt too embarrassed to remind her now, so instead slipped under the duvet and drew it as close to her eyes as she could get away with.

As soon as the first jump-scare happened, Josie fell right into the trap. She huffed afterwards, disappointed in herself. Hope had turned to look at her when that happened.

“You okay there?” Hope asked through a hidden grin. 

“Yup,” Josie convinced only herself. “Just wasn’t expecting that.”

Hope turned her eyes back to the screen. “You don’t handle horrors very well without your stuffed teddy.”

Josie felt her eyes widen. That surprised her more than the jump-scare had. “You remember my snuggly teddy?” She cringed after saying.

Hope frowned; feeling somewhat insulted that Josie had assumed she’d forgotten. “You’ve had him since we were fourteen.”

“I don’t know what changes come with your humanity being turned off.” She defended, removing the covers from her face now that it was daytime in the movie – and nothing bad really happened then.

“Well, the switch is sort of in the middle right now anyway.” Hope told her, and Josie couldn’t hold in the smile that crept onto her lips after hearing that.  


The movie eventually came to an end that wasn’t so terrifying after all - sad, more than anything. 'Frankenstein' followed, and neither of them seemed as interested in that.

“Hope?” 

“Yeah?”

Josie bit her lip. “Why haven’t you been feeding?”

Silence consumed them. Hours past, and then days did (at least it felt that way) before Hope finally answered.

“I tasted human blood again.” Hope finally voiced aloud.

Josie felt her breath hitch in her throat as flashes of what she had found that doomed day in the basement invaded her mind. “You’re feeding off humans again.” Josie assumed, almost offending Hope.

“No,” Hope made sure to say. “It wasn’t like that.”

Josie waited for her to continue, but encouraged her when she didn’t. “So what was it then?”

Hope needed a few minutes to try and articulate her words right before delivering them. “You cut your hand in the kitchen,” She started. “And then you left a spot of blood the counter. I’d put my blood bag down and when I picked it up, I thought I’d spilled some.”

Josie gulped when her words registered. Hope had drank Josie’s blood. 

Her heart began to race, but not from fear. In fact she couldn’t really decipher why her heart was racing. All she could do was sit there and listen whilst trying not to freak out over her throat beginning to close over.

“I thought it had leaked from my bag of animal blood, so I wiped it off with my finger and then licked my finger.” Hope finally continued. “I knew right away that it was human blood, and then I saw you and your bloodied bandage – and I just knew.” She said. “I was put off drinking after that.”

Josie took a few minutes to decode how she was feeling. Anger? No. Annoyance? No. Guilt? Perhaps. “Why?”

Hope clenched her jaw. “I was annoyed by how it made me feel. It was exhilarating, and it could have easily brought me back to feeding off of humans.” She explained. “In a way, I sort of started craving only yours.”

Josie wondered for a few minutes. She probably shouldn’t have taken Hope’s description of ‘exhilarating’ as a compliment, but she did. “Did you like it?” She surprised herself by asking. When it was quiet for awhile, she worried that she’d freaked Hope out.

“Yeah,” Hope finally answered, her voice barely even a whisper. She carried on when Josie didn’t speak again. “But I don’t want you to feel as though I’m a threat to you now, I’m not.” She wanted to assure her. “It’ll pass, and I’ll eventually be hungry enough to use a blood bag again.”

“We could face the Mournling tomorrow.” Josie reminded her candidly. “And now you don’t even have the bare minimum of animal blood in your veins to fuel your supernatural abilities.” 

Hope sighed, only now realizing her situation. “I’m sure your dad has brought blood bags with him – he has three vampires here.” She dipped below the covers to remove her jeans, wanting to put on a pair of sweatpants. “I’ll just have to drink one of them tomorrow.”

When no reply came, Hope switched off the TV and let darkness consume them as she pulled on her sweatpants. She was just about to close her eyes when Josie spoke up.

“Unless,” Josie paused momentarily. “You could beat the Mournling’s ass tomorrow if you were at your full capability, right?” She wasn’t even sure what she was saying at this point. 

“I’d like to think so,” Hope shrugged to herself.

Josie couldn’t even believe that this was going through her mind. Of course, she wanted Hope to be capable of ripping the monster’s head off – but surely she could do that without drinking human blood. Alaric was pretty sure Kaleb and MG were capable of doing it, or else why would they be there? And their only food source is animal blood.

So why was she about to offer herself up to Hope?

“If I said you could feed off of me,” Josie’s voice quivered as she spoke. “Would you be able to stop?”

Beneath the safety of the darkness, Hope’s eyes flickered golden at the very thought. She pierced her bottom lip with her fang, wanting to wish away her instincts.

She could hear Josie moving around in her own bed, and then it was quiet. Hope felt a dip at the bottom of her bed, silently announcing Josie’s presence. 

The crack of moonlight through the open blinds enabled Hope to see Josie a little better, though she still couldn’t see much more than the dimly lit features of her face.

Hope sat up instead of responding, wanting Josie to speak again so that she didn’t have to. Blue eyes met brown for the first time in what had felt like days, causing Josie to visibly relax – like she had finally got her much needed dose of Hope.

Josie kept their eyes locked as she attempted to discreetly move her hair from one side of her neck to the other, ensuring that the exposed side was the one in Hope’s line of view.

Hope had managed to keep her breathing under control, whilst it seemed as though Josie’s was getting heavier by the second.

The air was getting thicker, and the walls were starting to close in on them. The moonlight lit up Josie’s neck and perfectly illuminated her beating pulse.

Golden flecks overtook blue and fangs stretched into points as Hope ran her tongue over her lips. It was hard to tell whether Josie had tried to close the distance between them by moving closer to Hope, or whether Hope had edged closer to Josie.

It was irrelevant though, because now Josie could feel Hope’s hot breath on her neck. She had closed her eyes already, anticipating what was about to happen. 

“Jo,” Hope almost moaned in her ear. “I don’t know about this.”

Josie exhaled unintelligibly. “If you can stop yourself from taking it too far, do it.” She whispered in support.

Internally, Hope fought with herself – but she eventually threw caution to the wind and found herself leaning in, giving one last lick to her lips before cautiously sinking her teeth into Josie’s neck.

Her fangs just about pierced the skin at first, and Josie only let out a gasp – until the fangs were fully inserted. 

And then she let out what Hope could only decipher as a strangled moan, one in which Hope felt compelled to silence by placing her hand over the brunette’s mouth.

Josie gripped the bed sheets below her whilst Hope’s closed her eyes in bliss. The same adrenaline rush she got just days before coursed through the entirety over her body again – this time tasting and feeling even better.

To her, it was warm velvet coating her throat and heating up her insides. It was hot chocolate on a cold night; it was catching your breath after not being able to breathe.

To Josie, it was sheer adrenaline. It was pain mixed with pleasure, arousal mixed with anticipation – it was something that ended too quickly.

She released another (much tamer) moan when Hope slowly backed away, using the tip of her finger to wipe anything excess from the corner of her mouth.

Neither spoke for awhile, they just breathed exasperatedly into the air around them. Hope was looking at Josie, who had her head tilted back as she tried to regulate her breathing.

Hope already felt better, stronger and more capable. She could hear MG and Kaleb laughing in the next room, and the click from a can of soda opening. 

“Here,” Hope interrupted the lasting silence as she pierced the skin on her wrist, offering it to Josie who seemed very reluctant at first – almost grossed out even. “It’ll heal you.” She reminded her.

Josie couldn’t think of anything more embarrassing than leaving the room tomorrow with visible teeth marks on her neck, and wearily brought Hope’s wrist to her mouth.

It sort of tasted like how she imagined a melted coin would taste – very metallically and thick. It was definitely not to her liking, and after a matter of seconds she pushed Hope’s wrist away.

“Thank you, by the way.” Hope mumbled timidly. She felt sort of inferior under Josie’s gaze now that she was basically the person who gave her power. 

Josie nodded hurriedly, still appearing somewhat breathless. “We should get some rest,”


	20. Chapter 20

There was a very loud, slow sporadic knock on the door at dawn. Hope shot out of the bed, whilst Josie barely lifted the upper half of her body as she rubbed tiredly at her eyes.

“Who is-“ Josie husked, only to be silenced with a ‘shush’ from Hope before she could even finish.

Hope tip-toed her way to the door, peering out from the peephole provided by the motel door. Whoever it was had now turned their back. Hope could make out that it was a man, wearing a white dress shirt and black trousers. 

She’d spun back around to tell Josie that she couldn’t make out who it was, but then the door handle started to rattle.

She quickly brought her eye back to the peephole, even more concerned now about who the hell was trying to get into their room. 

But they had their head down – and they were turning out to be a lot stronger than Hope was.

Soon enough, Hope was shoved backwards by the door being forced open. Josie just stared helplessly at the young man stood in their doorway. 

The look of anger on his face dissolved and reformed into a smile when his eyes landed on Josie. “You must be Josette,” His voice was low and gravelly as he spoke, his eyes never leaving Josie’s.

Hope’s eyes widened at the voice that sent a thousand shockwaves to her core, winding her and then repeating the motion. 

She rose from her position of the ground as if to charge at him, but he easily grabbed her by the throat without even flinching.

“Don’t even try it,” His voice dropped into a growl as he locked eyes with Hope. “This didn’t end well for you last time,” He practically sang.

That’s when Josie realized just who they were dealing with.

She was halfway through bewitching a spell when his attention returned to her, releasing Hope from his grip by thrusting her into the wall and convincing Josie that he was a lot stronger than they were.

“Silentium.” 

Suddenly, Josie couldn’t speak anymore. The Mournling smiled, satisfied with himself as he retreated back to tormenting Hope.

“You don’t want to end up with broken necks like the nice boys next door, do you?” He pulled Hope up by her arm, then used his other hand to grab her face and examined it. “Looks like you’re starting to get your humanity back.”

Josie pried herself from the bed, but was launched back into it just as quickly.

“Don’t, Josie.” Hope instructed strongly. It came out more like an order than an instruction.

The Mournling chuckled lowly at that, his attention flicking from Hope to Josie – then back again. “Well we should have known from the get go that she would be the one to help you, shouldn’t we?”

Josie frowned, feeling completely left out the loop as she gritted her teeth. She hated just how powerless she was in that moment.

He continued to examine her face until he was somewhat satisfied with what he wanted to do. “Yep, you’re getting better.” He sighed dramatically. 

“We can’t have that. You’re my only tribrid.” He justified his actions with that.

Hope squirmed when he brought his face a few inches closer to hers. “I can get back into your head again so easily,” The Mournling spoke through gritted teeth, his grip on Hope tightening. 

As though she had to use all her might, Hope took hold of his arm and twisted it sideways to an extent where a snap could be heard.

The creature almost instantly fell to his knees as a cry of agony slipped through his lips, and Hope appeared at Josie’s side in a flash to free her.

They were instantaneously in front of Alaric’s door with Hope pounding on it. Alaric appeared in seconds, his eyes bloodshot from only just waking up. 

“He’s here,” Hope got out through infrequent breaths. “The Mournling, he’s in our room.” She backed her statement by gesturing in that direction.

Alaric hurriedly knelt down to retrieve his bow-and-arrow from beside the door, and then marched towards their room with Hope a few steps ahead of him.  


Josie went to follow, but instead stopped outside of MG and Kaleb’s room. 

Their door was still open just a crack, so Josie rushed to open it further. She was relieved to see the both of them starting to sit up and rub at their necks.

“Thank God,” She sighed loudly. “You’re alive.” The boys exchanged bewildered glances, convincing Josie that a further explanation would be needed.

-

After explaining the situation to MG and Kaleb, the three of them raced into Hope’s room (supernatural abilities at the ready) only to be met with Hope, stood with one hand on her hip and the other on her forehead, and Alaric sat on Hope’s bed with his unused bow-and-arrow still in hand.

“Where is he?” Kaleb asked, his eyes wide as he glanced around the room – even checking behind the door.

“He left,” Hope stated the obvious.

The three deflated visibly at her words, Josie feeling somewhat relieved but frustrated that he had managed to get away again.

“He knows where we are now; he might come back later on.” Alaric tried to appease the situation, yawning afterwards.

They let the silence envelope them, feeling as though it was needed for just a few minutes. Footsteps could be heard padding their way along the decking and towards the room, which seemed to cause a reflex in all five of them who turned to face the door.

“What did I miss?” Lizzie stood attired in her dressing gown and bunny slippers, wiping the sleep from the crinkles at the side of her eye.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a short update, but I thought I would at least give you something considering I won't be back with my laptop until thursday lol.
> 
> hope you enjoyed.
> 
> -f.  
> @bewitchinghosie


	21. Chapter 21

Everyone scattered out of Hope and Josie’s room eventually – but the heaviness in the atmosphere stayed and coated the walls.

Hope was still stood up, staring down at the floor and still completely lost in her thoughts. Josie had stood along with her for awhile, but eventually moved herself to her bed where she was still sat.

“Hope,” She spoke as softly as she could to the girl who was beginning to pace. “Just sit down for a minute,”

Hope ignored her request at first, but finally took up a spec on the edge of her bed. 

“Tell me what you’re thinking,” Josie attempted to persuade. 

She was met with silence for a long period of time. “I hate him,” Hope finally said.

Josie simply nodded as understandingly as she could. “I know,” She licked at her dry lips. “He’s gone now.”

“But he isn’t,” Hope now looked at her for the first time in at least an hour. “He’s still out there tormenting people – and he’ll be back for us too.”

She was growing more agitated with each word she spoke, and Josie found herself leaning away instinctively. She felt as though they’d be in for a long night.

“We can’t think about that right now,” She wasn’t very good at consoling people sometimes – especially in such a helpless situation like this one. “There’s no point in racking our brains about it – when he comes back, we’ll get him.” 

Hope bit her lip, her eyes darting all over the place. 

Josie tried to get a proper look at her now, realizing that she hadn’t really done that all morning. 

She wanted to make a note of how much better she looked today. Her skin was porcelain again, her cheeks rosy and full. 

“What?” Hope surprised her by saying. “I can feel you staring at me,” She added, looking up at her now.

“You just look a lot better,” Josie shrugged, suddenly feeling quite exposed as memories of the night before flooded her brain.

Pursing her lips, Hope gave half a smile. “Thanks,”

A knock on the door startled the both of them; Hope had jumped up and was standing guard in front of it when MG called in: “we’re going for lunch!”

-

Their entire day was mostly uneventful. They went for food, strolled around some of the museums and parks and had returned back to the motel by 6pm.

Josie had gone to the store to get snacks, deciding that if they were going to be in for a long night of Hope being anxious and restless, they had to do it right.

She walked back into the motel proudly with her grocery bag, announcing her arrival by holding it to her eye-level just to drop it on the floor. Hope just looked at her blankly.

“I bought the good stuff,” Josie said conceitedly.

Hope leaned over, pulling the bag closer to her to take a look. She gave Josie a small nod of approval when she’d examined the snacks and picked out a packet of candy. She then got as comfortable she could on her not-so-comfortable bed.

Josie picked a few out treats for herself and was just about to get on her own bed when Hope held a hand out to stop her (her mouth was too full of candy to speak).

“Pull your bed to mine,” Hope suggested. “Like a double bed.”

Josie’s eyebrows rose at the idea, and for a minute she wasn’t really sure what to do. “Okay,” 

She decided against reading too far into it, and found herself doing just what Hope had proposed.

They lay that way for most of the night, still staying on their designated beds but sharing the bag of candy whilst flicking through the three channels they had been provided.

“Hey, I have a question.” Josie unexpectedly remembered something she had wanted to know. She didn’t bother waiting for Hope to reply before carrying on. 

“Before my dad interrupted our talk the other week, you were about to tell me who it was that made you switch it off.”

She almost instantly felt the atmosphere shift. Hope’s movements had near enough paused, and Josie cringed under the newfound tension.

“It’s a pretty long winded story,” Hope tried to deflect.

“I only want to know who it was,” Josie shrugged, not at all taking the hint.

Hope lost her appetite for the candy she was about to put in her mouth, and in turn dropped it back into its packet which she set aside.

“I honestly try to block it all out,” Hope tried again. “I don’t like to think about it sometimes.”

It was enough to tell Josie that this shouldn’t be pushed any further, so she bit her tongue and turned her attention back to the trashy movie playing in front of them.

“You know I’ve actually had a nice little break with you as my roommate,” Josie let her know. Hope chuckled shortly in response.

“You say that like we don’t get along,” 

“Well, we didn’t really…for a little while.” Josie felt the need to remind her. The older girl just smiled tightly.

Josie felt her eyelids getting heavy as the credits rolled up on the screen. It was 2AM – and that was when she realized she was definitely too old to be pulling all-nighters.

“So are you really planning on staying up all night in case he comes back?” She asked Hope, who was resting against the headboard.

“No,” Hope shook her head, using the remote to mute the TV. “I don’t think he’s dumb enough to try and come back tonight.”

“Thank God,” Josie said, excitedly slipping beneath the covers and sighing contentedly at the warmth they provided her with. “Imagine what a drama this morning could have been if you had no blood in your system,” She teased playfully, facing Hope now.

Hope rolled her eyes. “Well, you’d probably be dead too.”

“Which is why it was a great idea by me,” Josie continued their playfulness as Hope also embedded herself in the comfort of the covers.

Hope ignored her statement, still trying to get comfortable in her godforsaken bed. “Goodnight,”

Josie hadn’t realized they’d be going to sleep right away, but didn’t argue with the fact. 

She felt completely drained of energy after the morning they’d had, and therefore welcomed her slumber with a lazy smile.

-

They were rudely awakened by Alaric banging on their door. 

Hope had started to wake up a few minutes before that though, hearing the way he did to MG and Kaleb’s door first.

“Time to hit the road,” He sung way too loudly for Hope’s liking, but still she stretched below the covers that had gotten too warm for her.

Josie was struggling to open her eyes, having to do it one at a time until they finally adjusted to the brightness of the morning light.

Neither of the girls were more of a morning person, so they enjoyed the comfortable silence of making their beds (and putting Josie’s back in its rightful place) before gathering their luggage. 

It didn’t take very long, and soon enough they were in the minivan ready to go home – though they had to wait a further five minutes for Lizzie to finish getting ready.

The van was painfully hot; even when Alaric switched on the air conditioning it just about provided an almost lukewarm breeze. 

Josie damned him for renting such an old vehicle.

Josie was sat between Lizzie and Hope this time around. Lizzie had once again resorted to sitting with her earphones in, flicking through the last of the magazines she had brought with her.

Hope had her earphones in too, staring off into the distance. 

Every now and then they’d hip a dip in the road, and when they did Josie’s and Hope’s legs would brush together.

It startled Josie each time to suddenly feel skin on skin contact with the girl beside her, but Hope always reacted as though she’d just been burnt.

Each time Josie witnessed the reaction, she was confused and mildly offended. Still she tried to ignore it, resting her head back against the headrest and closing her eyes.

She must have drifted off soon enough because the next thing she knew, they were coming to a halt outside the boarding school.

Everyone hurried out the sauna they’d called a minivan, and practically moaned in delight at the fresh air. 

“Thank you guys for coming with me,” Alaric addressed the group as they pulled their bags from the vehicle. “I know we didn’t catch him, but we will.” He assured them (though Josie doubted anyone was even listening).

There was a group of students waiting for them when they entered the doors, all collectively erupting into cheer.

“So did you get him!?” Pedro shoved his way through the small crowd to be at the front, looking up at them admirably with his hands clutched to his chest.

Josie suddenly felt way more disappointed in herself than she had before.

“Sorry buddy,” Lizzie knelt down to his level and ruffled his hair. “We didn’t – but we will,” She promised him, though he still pouted.

“Well this is awkward.” Jed huffed, crossing his arms. “We’d arranged a little celebratory get together for when you guys came back.”

Hope rolled her eyes as she readjusted the backpack on her shoulder. “You try catching that thing,” She mumbled, pushing past the group and making her way to the stairs.

Josie didn’t really feel up to a party, but she imagined she would still be going because Lizzie’s eyes practically lit up.

Everyone left the hallway one by one, MG and Kaleb disappeared not long after Hope did – and the small crowd who’d joined together at the door started to dismember, eventually leaving only Jed, Lizzie and Josie.

“So, a party huh?” Lizzie almost beamed.

“It starts at 8,” Jed told her. “In the woods, as usual.”

“We’ll be there,” Lizzie promised whilst Josie ground her teeth, longing for her cozy pajamas and a good book.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a long chapter <3 
> 
> -f.  
> @bewitchinghosie


	22. Chapter 22

Hope tossed her backpack to one side upon returning home from the field trip. She hurried to put on her lounge wear, and picked out a vinyl record to put on whilst she sat in front of her easel.

Painting came easy to her. She hardly ever had to think and would instead just let her hand do the work, the picture almost always turned out pretty.

She enjoyed the peace that painting would bring her, and she enjoyed it that night – until she started to feel hungry.

This wasn’t usually an issue to her. 

It was normally easily solved by a trip to the walk-in freezer in the kitchen, but the very thought of having to satisfy herself with animal blood made her want to vomit.

She hated the texture: how thin and metallically it was. 

She hated the lack of energy it gave her; she sort of felt like she was putting diesel into a petrol run car.

Hope didn’t work the same on animal blood.

Her mind involuntarily flashed back to two nights before, and she remembered the taste of Josie’s blood.

Blue eyes fell shut as the grip on her paintbrush tightened. Human blood was a different level of satisfaction – not only did it taste better, it made her more capable. 

She could actually be a powerful tribrid when that blood was running through her veins.

But she couldn’t do that. 

Something was almost holding her back from running out and hunting down some helpless citizen – not to mention that none of them were Josie, who she’d especially enjoyed feeding off of the other night.

Anyway, she’d gotten her fix when Josie had allowed her to feed on her. She wouldn’t dare go back for more.

She shook her head in a desperate attempt to erase her thoughts, settling for painting a few more brushes onto her canvases.

Though of course it didn’t work. 

She was still hungry, and eventually chucked her paintbrush into the glass of water beside her canvas and got up from her chair.

She paced her room for awhile before grabbing her trainers from the closet and rushing out the door. 

She had to creep through the hallways, knowing full well that Alaric might have been strolling through the school to make sure no one was causing any mischief (he sometimes chose to ignore the parties that were in the woods, claiming that they were off campus and therefore not his business).

Soon enough she slipped out of the main entrance, disappearing into the night.

-

Despite Josie’s wishes, herself and Lizzie started to get ready around 7:30. 

They didn’t actually arrive at the woods until just after 8:30, simply because it took Lizzie awhile to pick out an outfit she was actually satisfied with – Josie was ready within twenty minutes.

Not many people were there when they initially arrived, so Josie dismissed herself from Jed’s company (though he’d hardly batted an eyelid at her because he was focusing on Lizzie) to go and get some drinks. 

She returned to an entirely different party.

A flood of people had come from nowhere – one of them being Jade with two other vampires walking alongside her.

Josie gave a smile laced with embarrassment, while Jade gave back a much more self-assured one.

Soon enough the party was fully fledged. They’d somehow wound up playing a game of spin the bottle, and Josie was shifting uncomfortably on top of the debris left by the woods.

She watched as faces of people whose names she couldn’t place shared lustful kisses, or gave the other a sexy (clumsy, if you asked Josie) dance.

Soon it was Jade’s turn to spin. 

Jed had already voiced that she to make out with whoever it landed on; Josie sort of lost interest at the point and resorted to taking a swig from her very weak alcoholic beverage.

The liquid almost spilled from her lips completely when the bottle pointed right at her, and everyone erupted into wolf whistling and cheering.

She looked with widened eyes at Lizzie, like she would somehow whisk her away to safety. 

Lizzie just stared back with raised eyebrows and a playful grin.

Jade was already crawling her way to the centre of the circle, a mischievous smirk shadowing her lips. 

This wouldn’t be so bad, right? If anything avoiding the situation would cause more drama and embarrassment than just doing it.

And so with that thought in mind, Josie set her drink aside and crept her way across fallen leaves and twigs (which dug into her bare legs and irritated her a lot) to meet Jade in the middle.

Neither of them said anything.

Jade eyed Josie up, running a pink tongue over her lips before leaning in to close the distance between them.

Josie mimicked her movements, relaxing a little once their lips touched. This elicited another eruption of cheering and childish comments from the intoxicated students surrounding them. 

She felt strangely exposed – and she didn’t like it very much. 

She felt at a loss when she felt Jade’s mouth beginning to open a little, but blindly followed her lead until she felt a tongue probing at hers.

Ignoring the way her nose twitched upwards in response, Josie quickly gave a swipe to Jade’s tongue and then pulled away. 

The suddenness of her movements seemed to surprise the older girl, whose eyebrows dipped momentarily.

“Well I sure am missing a party,” Hope stood outside of the circle, only wearing a pair of sweatpants and a tank top. 

She clearly hadn’t come to stay – merely to check if she was missing anything interesting.

A whirlpool of emotions started in the depth of Josie’s stomach – though she wasn’t quite sure why. 

Maybe because Hope’s eyes were on only her when she’d spoke.

Jed picked up on Hope’s statements and had started talking her through the not so eventful things that had unfolded at the party. 

It sounded like he was trying to big himself up considering it was his idea, but to be honest Josie had had more fun at children’s parties.

Hope was barely paying attention to what Jed was saying. 

Her eyes would flicker from him, to Josie, to Jade – who was sat with an obvious unenthused look on her face.

“I was just making sure I hadn’t missed anything interesting,” Hope cut Jed off, who seemed pained at the interruption. “Enjoy the rest of your night,” She finished off with once last glance in Josie’s direction.

Everyone eagerly turned their attention back to the game, which easily picked up where it had left off. 

Josie watched as Hope walked away, and then found herself rising to her feet to follow after the tribrid.

She didn’t actually catch up to her until they were in the kitchen together, where Hope simply rested herself against the counter and waited for Josie – she’d heard her coming as soon as she’d stood up.

“Hey,” Josie rushed in almost breathlessly. She’d never realised that Hope was such a fast walker.

“Hi,” Hope quirked an eyebrow. “You seemed like you were having too much fun out there to ever leave.”

The brunette shrugged, stepping further into the room. “It’s probably one of the worst parties I’ve ever been to.”

Hope hummed. “That’s probably because it’s the only party where you’ve had Jade’s tongue down your throat.”

She struggled almost to get those words out. Something burned in her stomach.

Josie just laughed. “Yeah, probably.”

“I wasn’t staying anyway,” Hope cleared her throat. “I’m going back to my room in a minute,”

Josie tried to think of something else to say, a strange urge bugging her to keep Hope in the kitchen for longer – but nothing came out.

“You haven’t lost any colour in your face.” She blurted out just as Hope almost slipped past her into the hallway.

Hope frowned, her eyes darting around Josie’s alert face.

“I mean, since you drank my blood.” Josie was sure to lower her voice an octave. “I thought you’d of started to lose the rosiness in your cheeks by now.” She laughed softly, running her foot over some dust she had spotted on the floor.

“Oh,” Hope hushed out, gulping afterwards for a reason unbeknownst to Josie. “I guess it just hasn’t worn off yet.”

Josie pursed her lips, averting her gaze to the floor with a nod. “I’ll see you in the morning,” She decided to say.

“Yeah,” Hope attempted to slip past her once more, which Josie allowed this time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i've hardly had time to write at the minute as i've either been in work, or been at my girlfriends and therefore unable to use my laptop lol
> 
> anyways, i'm still managing to update once a week which is a good sign <3
> 
> hope you're all keeping well!!
> 
> -f.  
> @bewitchinghosie


	23. Chapter 23

Josie had almost forgotten that she had football practice the next morning. Almost. 

Her alarm blared through the quietness of the dorm room, rudely rousing both twins from their delightful slumber.

“Oh my god,” Lizzie groaned loudly, her voice scratched. “Why do we even play football?” She asked to simply no one.

Josie smacked at her phone blindly until the alarm went off. 

She lay in bed and contemplated just how necessary going to practice that morning was – and then she remembered how much it all meant to her dad.

With an eye roll, she pulled herself from her bed and stretched. 

Glancing over at Lizzie, whose mouth was wide open and eyes shut, she grabbed a cushion from her bed and tossed it at her twin who squirmed in response.

It didn’t take long until they were out the dorm, attired in their jerseys and shorts and making their way down to the football field.

They appreciated one another’s silence whilst knowing full well there would be none of that during practice.

Their dad always had one too many espresso shots in his coffee during soccer practice, and it turned out that a lot of their teams mates did too. 

Still, they powered through their morning. They played a game which required some of them to wear bibs, and others to stick to their original team jersey.

It was basically a practice run of whatever game they had coming up (Josie never really paid much attention to who their next rival was).

She noted that Hope, much like her, had been nominated to stick to the original jersey. Lizzie and MG were in the process of throwing on a blue bib – along with Jade.

“We got this,” Kaleb offered his hand to Josie, hoping to see a high five in return.

It took her a minute to realise they were on the same team, but she swiftly rewarded him with one afterwards.

There was a fair ratio of students dosed up on caffeine, and students who were still rubbing the sleep out of their eyes on each time.

Kaleb had definitely had his dose of espresso. He was like a lightning bolt chasing the ‘rivals’ down the pitch, whilst Josie and Lizzie had barely put one foot in front of the other.

Hope was somewhere in between. She’d fell into a jog once Kaleb had sprinted off, and she was now pacing up and down the halfway line.

The half-asleep students soon woke up, and eventually everyone was putting some effort into the warm up.

Bibs and OGs were tied when only twenty seconds was left on the clock. MG was just about tossing the ball to Jade, when out of nowhere Hope was there to rescue it.

She knocked Jade to the ground with very visible forcefulness, and sent the brunette stumbling to the ground with a cry of agony.

There was no time for Hope to make a run for it before the whistle blew in response to the violence behind the tackle.

Hope just rolled her eyes and threw the ball to the ground with a huff. 

Jade was holding onto her waist and rolling around on the floor, a string of curse words falling from her lips.

Josie could tell she wasn’t faking the injury, and even she jogged over to see what was going on. 

Jade’s face had reddened, and her knuckles were white with how tightened her grip was on the injury.

“What the hell, Hope?” Lizzie made sure to scold the tribrid as she knelt down beside Jade.

Hope said nothing, but instead kept her eyes focused anywhere besides Jade. 

Alaric was by her side now too, mumbling some kind of telling off to Hope as he tried to come up with a solution for Jade’s injury.

“Someone mutter out a spell,” Hope finally shrugged, looking down at the commotion taking place. “We have plenty that would fix her right up.”

Alaric rose from his position on the ground once MG and Kaleb had helped the injured player up and began walking her to the nurse’s office.

“That’s beside the point,” Alaric began to wag his finger in front of Hope’s face. “We do not tolerate fouls that violent, Hope.” 

Again, the tribrid rolled her eyes.

“She’s clearly out of control,” Lizzie inputted, coming to stand beside her dad. 

Hope narrowed her eyes in Lizzie’s direction. Her jaw began to tighten, and Josie quickly came to stand in between them.

“Come on you guys,” Josie attempted to soothe. “Dad, just give her a detention or something.” She suggested the tamest punishment she could think of on the spot.

“No,” Alaric placed her hands on his hips, shaking his head at the ground before locking eyes with Hope. “You’re suspended from next week’s game – and you’re getting two days worth of detention.”

And with that, he walked away before Hope could argue back – although it didn’t really seem like she was going to.

She didn’t really react at all, but instead followed the lead of all the other students who had began walking towards the changing rooms.

-

Josie decided against changing out of her jersey. 

She hadn’t really been active enough during the game to produce much sweat, so instead she waited with her gym bag outside of the locker room.

Every time the door opened, she’d get ready to address Hope – but she was waiting at least thirty minutes before the older girl finally exited.

She could see why as soon as she did, though. Hope had made the time to shower, dry her hair and then change into a pair of jeans and a baby blue crop top.

“I was waiting for you,” Josie didn’t even attempt to hide the trace of annoyance in her voice. 

Hope hadn’t even bothered to stop, so Josie was forced to fall into a steady walk alongside her.

“I didn’t ask you to,” Hope easily dismissed.

They had to dodge the crowds of students hurrying to get to their next class - which made it even more of a challenge for Josie to pull actual, communicative words from Hope.

“Why did you tackle Jade that hard?” She realized soon enough that she was best just asking the question she’d wanted to know the answer to.

“We were on opposing teams,” Hope said, quite decidedly.

Josie almost had to duck to dodge someone’s backpack as they turned a corner. “Yeah well, I didn’t tackle anyone that hard.”

Hope scoffed. “You were barely even playing.”

“It was uncalled for,” Josie added a dash of venom to her tone. 

Hope came to a stop outside her next class, finally spinning to stand opposite her.

All she gave was a tight smile, laced with feigned innocence and a shrug of her shoulders. 

She pushed open the door with her shoulder and disappeared into the classroom. 

Josie sighed in defeat. 

She hated how difficult and hard-faced Hope would be sometimes; she never knew what kind of mood the tribrid was going to be in until she saw her on a daily basis.

She knew there was no point trying to talk to Hope much more that day, so decided there and then to steer clear for awhile.

“Hey,” Josie heard from behind her.

The hallways had started to quiet down, that’s how she knew she was late for class. But once she realized it was Jade beckoning her she decided she’d just write herself a late note.

“Hi,” Josie’s eyes had widened in the girls presence. She hadn’t been expecting to see her looking as well as she did just moments after the tackle. “You’re okay?”

Jade laughed, gesturing towards her injury. “After a little sample of a heeling potion, I’m as good as new.”

“I have no idea why she tackled you that hard,” Josie almost laughed at how bizarre and unnecessary the foul was.

“I don’t expect much less from a vampire who’s on human blood,” Jade said, with a detectable hint of confrontation – but still Josie almost froze.

“What?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i was listening to astronomical as I uploaded this chapter and like...that song does things to me. amazing.
> 
> how was this chapter? lol sorry for being a day late 


	24. Chapter 24

_“I don’t expect much less from a vampire who’s on human blood,” Jade said, with a detectable hint of confrontation – but still Josie almost froze._

_“What?”_

“Oh, you didn’t know?” A shadow of a guileful smirk hinted at Jade’s lips, but she hid it well enough for Josie to not notice at all. “Hope opened up her water bottle in the locker room today, and the whiff of human blood almost knocked me off my feet.” 

Josie shook her head. “How do you know it was human blood?” 

“Please,” Jade sneered. “I’ve been living off of animal blood ever since I got here; I know the difference in smells.” She crossed her arms defensively. “It’s like being able to smell the difference between real meat and a vegetarian substitute.” 

Josie didn’t say anything, but instead tried to unclog the suddenly piled up thoughts in her head. 

“Not to mention, she’s looking awfully radiant lately.” Jade filled up with the silence with more accusations. “And the power in that tackle sort of speaks for itself.” 

Josie just wanted Jade to shut up now. She’d heard enough. 

“I’m sorry you had to find out this way,” Jade placed her hand on Josie’s shoulder in a way that was too patronizing for the younger girls liking. “I know you’ve had a lot of high expectations of her lately – with all the help you’ve been giving her and stuff,” 

It took Josie five minutes to realise that Jade had left, and now she was standing alone in the hallway with thoughts she couldn’t register. 

Was she the reason Hope had gone back to human blood? 

Had she cost innocent passersby their lives, simply because she let Hope taste more of her blood? 

She shook her head in a desperate attempt to rid her thoughts, and stormed her way towards the class she was very overdue for. 

-

Josie’s last class of the day was a study session. 

She knew that going up to her dorm for it would not end very well, considering her iPad was a very distracting device. 

Plus she liked the library. It was peaceful and strangely cozy. 

She flipped open her textbook, then retrieved the notebook from her bag and began to read through ‘intro to advanced civics’ work. 

Studying came easy to her. It was no lie that Josie was almost a straight ‘A’ student – the lowest grade she ever got was C-, and even that nearly distraught her…until she saw that Lizzie got a D-. 

Both the twins were (somewhat) hardworking students. Lizzie was just a lot more easily distracted than Josie was which in return took a toll on her grades. Even now Josie sat scribbling away, her eyes darting between the textbook in front of her to the notebook she was writing in. 

“I really need your help,” A voice beckoned her, pulling her from the zone she’d put herself in. 

Josie glanced up to see Hope leaning above her, her hand resting on a textbook reading: ‘Geography’. 

She ignored the older girl and retreated back to the words in front of her, trying to find where she had left off. 

“Hello,” Hope sang, waving her hand in front of Josie’s face after being disregarded. 

Josie gritted her teeth. She was getting easily aggravated after reading the same word ten times over. “There are about ten other students in this room that could probably help you with your geography,” She rebuked, slamming her hand against the desk. 

Hope arched an eyebrow as a smug smile pulling at her lips. “Yeah well, I don’t know if any of those students got an A.” She leaned forward to wave the book in Josie’s direction. 

“I’m doing some studying off my own right now,” Josie mumbled out, barely even bothering to maintain eye contact with the girl in front of her. 

She’d only realized that Hope had sat down opposite her when she heard the legs of the chair scrape against the carpet, and then noticed a shadow in the corner of her eye. 

“What’re you studying for?” 

Josie huffed. “Can you read?” She tapped her pencil against the book that very clearly read ‘Advanced Civics’. 

Hope was silent for a moment – but not long enough for Josie’s liking. “Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed?” 

Josie placed her hands over her face, giving up all together now on trying to get anymore studying complete in Hope’s presence. “I don’t want to talk to you Hope, have I not made that clear?” She locked eyes with her in hopes of emphasizing her point. 

The perplexity Hope’s face displayed irked Josie even more. 

She was irritated by the thought of Hope thinking Josie was oblivious enough not to eventually find out that she was back to feeding off of humans. Though all of this was Josie’s assuming thoughts, it was enough to make her slam her books closed and shove them in her bag. 

Hope shadowed her movements when she stood up and made a b-line for the exit door. 

“Are you still pissed at me for hurting Jade?” Hope guessed, not struggling at all to keep up with Josie’s fast movements. 

“I never was annoyed at you for that,” Josie dismissed. “I was more intrigued as to why you did it.” 

“And you’re still annoyed because I haven’t told you why?” Hope almost laughed at the childishness of it. 

“No,” 

“Then what?” 

They came to an abrupt halt at the top of the stairway.

“God, will you stop?” Josie’s emotions got the better of her once more. 

Hope wore a very irritating look on her face, one which told Josie she would not stop until she got the answers she wanted.

“Come here,” Josie lowered her tone and pulled Hope by the arm towards her dorm room, which (lucky for her) was empty. 

Hope didn’t need to be told before she made herself comfortable at the foot of Josie’s bed. She placed her hands on her lap and looked at Josie expectantly.

“I know what you’ve been doing,” Josie addressed the situation with crossed arms. 

Hope frowned, her eyes darting around the room as though she was searching for an answer there. “And what is that?” 

Josie cocked her head back and scoffed. “You’re not even going to tell me?” 

Hope’s face took on an expression of utter bewilderment. 

She looked like an innocent child being scolded for something they didn’t do - and for a second Josie almost believed that Hope had no idea what she was talking about. 

“You’re feeding off of humans again, Hope.” Josie confronted, taking a step closer to her and ensuring that her voice was quiet enough for only the two of them to hear her words. 

All the features of Hope’s face dropped. 

A lump formed in her throat as she gulped and averted her eyes from Josie’s. 

Now she definitely looked like a scolded child. 

“How did you find that out?” Hope asked, her tone just above a whisper. 

“Jade told me she could smell the stench from your water bottle during practice,” Josie stayed in her confrontational stance, not ready to reason with her yet.

Hope closed her eyes, darning herself for being so clumsy. 

She should have known better considering there was going to be other vampires in that locker room. 

“I have been feeding off of humans again,” She confirmed Josie’s suspicion – which in return made Josie’s heart drop. She even brought her hand to her chest after feeling the dip. “But it’s not in the way that you’re thinking,” Hope immediately added after seeing the reaction. 

“I told one of the other vampires how I’d been feeling,” She explained. “The smell of animal blood has just been making me feel ill, even more so after that night in the motel.” 

Josie gulped. 

“She told me that she doesn’t drink animal blood either, but instead gets her source from the nearby hospital. They have blood bags there,” Josie visibly relaxed at that. “I feel so much better after switching – in every sense of the word.” Hope defended her new choices. “It only started that night of the party; I came down to the woods after I’d been there.” 

There was silence for a minute as the new information set in. 

“I made you want to go back,” Josie said – not like a question, more a statement. 

“No,” Hope rose to her feet to take a step towards her. “I agreed to do that. This wasn’t because of you.” She tried to soothe. “And even if it was, it's not like I’m doing a bad thing – I’m not killing people.” 

Josie looked up at her with hesitant eyes. 

“I mean it, Jo.” Hope ensured that their eyes were locked. “You’ve just helped to make me realise that a diet of animal blood is not a good enough source for me, it isn’t for any vampire.” She continued, stepping away from Josie to pace the room. “We can’t be expected not to feed off of humans.” 

Josie nodded along. It was no secret that the boarding school needed to provide the vampires with a better food source. Animal blood was not good enough, but she guessed her dad wasn’t really sure what to do about it. 

“It’s not a great sign of my dad’s leaderships skills when there’s a select amount of vampires taking it up upon themselves to get human blood,” She almost laughed. 

Hope shrugged. “He’ll figure it out,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> idk why I ended it here... if you follow me on twitter, you'll know that I believe the next few chapters that are in the works are NAIL BITERS.
> 
> tbh, I liked this chapter at first but now I'm not too sure about it. hopefully you guys like it more than I do <3
> 
> -f.  
> @bewitchinghosie


	25. Chapter 25

The two girls stayed in the dorm room together chatting away until a key sounded in the lock. Hope quickly rose from the bed, knowing full well that Lizzie’s arrival would mean her departure. 

As soon as the door opened, Lizzie walked in with a very loud sigh.

“Why is she here?” Lizzie’s body visibly tensed at the sight of the tribrid, whom she hadn’t been getting along with for awhile now.

“SHE is leaving.” Hope flashed a tight smile in Lizzie’s direction before slipping past her into the hallway. 

Lizzie closed the door quickly afterwards and locked it, worried that Hope would come back in for some reason.

She turned her attention to Josie, narrowing her eyes. 

Josie rolled hers in return and prepared for some kind of unnecessary lecture she knew Lizzie would give her. 

“Do I need to tell you again to stay away from her?”

“Lizzie, we literally shared a room together on the field trip.” She sat up against the headboard. “You didn’t have a problem with it then.”

“That was a requirement from Dad,” Lizzie attempted to justify. “You’re spending time with her when you don’t even need to.”

“I want to.”

There was a pause after. 

Lizzie almost froze, like the statement was a revelation to her. 

“You want to spend time with Hope Mikaelson?” The name rolled off her lips in a manner that would indicate her speaking of someone awful – like Voldemort or something.

“She’s not a bad person, Lizzie.” Josie felt compelled to inform her.

Lizzie scoffed, tossing her bag to one side. “Tell that to those people she killed.” She reminded Josie, who cringed in response. 

“That’s not who she is now.” Josie spun around to face Lizzie’s side of the room once her twin had wandered over to it.

“Her humanity is still off.” Lizzie continued to bark back. “I will not be trusting her, or going near her, until it’s back on – and you shouldn’t be either.”

Josie almost laughed at the idea of that. “We have no idea when that will be. It’s a process, Lizzie.”

“That doesn’t mean we can’t stay away from her until then,” Her sister shrugged in defensive.

Josie settled on saying nothing. 

It was clear that Lizzie’s opinion on Hope wouldn’t be changed by one simple conversation. She hoped that she would soon see for herself that Hope is getting better, and that she’s definitely no threat.

“Do you have a crush on her?” 

Josie’s eyes almost bulged out of her face at the statement. 

Lizzie was staring at her with narrowed eyes and a creased forehead as she tried to read her.

“Excuse me?” Josie spluttered out, feeling a shy heat start to rush to her face.

“You do, don’t you?” Lizzie carried on poking. “That’s why you haven’t been able to stay away from her.”

Josie’s mouth began to bop open, and then close again (almost like a fish) as she tried to find the words to protest. 

“No, I do not have a crush on Hope.”

“Yes you do,” Lizzie scoffed now at Josie’s poor attempt at self defense. “It’s the only logical explanation. No one else is as caught up in this situation with her as much as you are, not even Landon.”

Josie just frowned and avoided any and all eye contact with her sister. 

But maybe she did have a crush on Hope…maybe that was the only logical explanation for everything.

Her heart began to race at the thought. 

She reminisced on their time together in a desperate attempt to figure out if Lizzie’s statement was true.

Sure, she would sometimes get butterflies if Hope was sitting too close to her – but maybe that was just because she did still find Hope unpredictable at times.

And sure, she’d wake up most mornings and try to figure out if they’d be crossing paths.

And she definitely had very little reason to make Hope feed off of her the other night. 

And it did make her feel like electricity was coursing through her, and there was a definite heat between her legs when it was happening.

“Josie and Hope sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G,” She was pulled back to reality by Lizzie sitting crossed leg on her own bed, bopping up and down in time to the tune she was singing.

“Ugh, grow up.” Josie grabbed a nearby cushion and tossed it towards Lizzie's bed.

She threw her head on her own pillow and turned in the opposite direction, curling herself up into a hide-away ball. 

Lizzie soon enough lost interest in poking fun at her.

Unbeknownst to her, she’d given Josie a lot to think about. She definitely had some stuff to come to terms with.

-

“You and Josie are spending a lot of time together,” Kaleb responded to Hope, who had just told him that she had to leave the twins dorm room as soon as Lizzie came home.

She was telling him about how cold and distant Lizzie had been with her during this whole ordeal, and that she didn’t really mind it because she knew as soon as she was back to herself, Lizzie would be fine with her again.

“She’s been helping me a lot during all this,” Hope let him know. “It really pissed me off at first, how hard she was trying.”

Kaleb laughed at that. “Her heart’s in the right place.” 

“She’s a good friend,” Hope added, flipping over her geography textbook and reading the blurb.

“Are you sure that’s all she is?” A taunting smile hinted at his lips, though Hope unhurriedly lifted her head to look at him with narrowed eyes.

“What’re you getting at?” She suddenly lost interest in the book in front of her.

Kaleb played innocent by shrugging his shoulders. “Well, I’m just saying that you guys are seeing a lot more than each other – and you shared a motel room.”

Hope scoffed defensively. “That wasn’t really by choice, Lizzie could have been there.”

“Yeah, but she wasn’t – probably because of the tension.” 

“What tension?”

He raised his hand guardedly. “Look, I’m not having this conversation to confront you.” He felt compelled to tell her, since her voice was starting to raise a few octaves. “I just think it’s something to think about.”

Hope rested her tense shoulders, sinking back into her chair.

“I mean…do you have any sort of feelings for Josie?” He asked more carefully now, avoiding eye contact in hopes of making the conversation feel a little more casual.

Hope had to think a minute. 

She did enjoy spending time with the younger girl, and she sort of liked how being around Josie made her feel.

She didn’t like how seeing Josie with Jade made her feel though, in fact she hated Jade. She was way too cocky – and Hope felt as though the vampire definitely tried to rub her friendship with Josie in her face.

She couldn’t really put a finger on how seeing the two of them kiss made her feel. 

It sort of felt as though someone had kicked all of the air out of her stomach and made it explode out of her chest. 

And then she felt sort of envious. 

It made her want to know what kissing Josie felt like, but that was probably just because Josie has very pouted lips – she was sure everyone had thought about it at least once.

Spending two nights in a motel with Josie had felt like a breath of fresh air for Hope; and feeding off of her brought Hope to a completely new high.

It was an intimate experience; it was quenching and definitely arousing. 

But any vampire felt that when feeding off of someone…right?

They feel the rush of arousal, the tingles up and down every nerve in their body…

and they definitely feel the almost dire need to make out with them afterwards – right?

“Hope?” Kaleb beckoned the girl who seemed to have fallen into a daydream. “Hope,” He sang as he shook her arm and startled her out of her thoughts.

Her eyes shot up at him, widened and alert.

“You haven’t said anything for like five minutes.” 

Hope had to move her tongue around in her mouth to get back the moisture it seemed to have lost. Then, she shoved her geography book back into her bag. 

“Yeah, sorry.”

She felt somewhat rudely awakened by the thoughts that Kaleb had sprung to her mind. In fact, she felt somewhat offended by it. 

These were not the type of thoughts (or realizations) she wanted to deal with this afternoon. 

So she decided not to. 

She rose from her chair and stormed out the library without formulating any kind of goodbye to Kaleb, who sat wide eyed and confused once she had left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is a one off Monday upload simply bc I'm bored and I've been excited to add this chapter bc it's slowburn progress !!!
> 
> we've ALL been waiting for it. I hate how oblivious these bitches are i stg.
> 
> -f.  
> @bewitchinghosie


	26. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> T/W: public outting?? (I guess)

Hope and Josie managed to successfully avoid each other for two days.

Each of them kept secretly wondering why they hadn’t heard from the other, and even found themselves feeling wounded by it.

There was sudden pounding on Hope’s door that disturbed her reading. She tried to ignore it at first, but the knocks just kept coming.

She reluctantly tossed her book to one side and tugged the door open, a death glare waiting for whoever was on the other side.

Rafael looked her up and down judgingly. “Why aren’t you dressed?”

She was surprised to not only see him at her door, but to see him dressed smart in a tight, thin navy blue sweater and black skinny jeans. 

He smelt really good too, Hope thought he always did but it seemed like he was wearing more expensive cologne this day.

“What are you talking about?” Hope glanced down, feeling somewhat exposed by the casualness of her sweatpants.

“It’s Jed’s birthday.” 

Hope narrowed her eyes. “Why does that affect me?”

Rafael rolled his eyes now, sighing as he folded his arms. “Because he’s having a party in the woods to celebrate it.”

“He has a party in the woods like every other Saturday,” Hope scoffed and was seconds away from shutting the door in his face.

“That you never turn up to.” 

He had a point. She probably should make an appearance at some point…maybe tonight was the night she would have to do that. 

She couldn’t really miss a fellow wolf’s birthday.

Hope scratched at her neck unsurely. “What time is the party?”

“Well, if you ever turned up to any of them you would know they start at 8.” Rafael flashed a playful smile.

Hope forced one in return. “It’s not my fault he has some weird party fetish that I never want to be a part of.” She voiced her disapproval. “But, I’ll be there tonight.”

Rafael nodded. “I’ll see you then.”

She hurried to close the door and then retreated back to her bed, nuzzling herself against the cushions and grabbing hold of her book once more.

-

Josie was more than unsurprised when she found herself, once again, in the all too familiar woods. Lizzie seemed to thrive in environments like this; she was good at being a social butterfly.

Josie, however, was more of a wallflower. She never meant to be, but she was. 

Lizzie tried to make Josie feel included in all the conservations she’d wind up in – but Josie was never very good at keeping tuned in. 

They never spoke about things that interested her, so her eyes would always wander and she’d therefore be silently dismissed from the conversation.

Even when she was drunk, Josie just became louder – not more interesting to others. 

Being drunk made the environment more bearable for her though, so she showed no hesitation when making herself a double vodka and lemonade.

“Josie Saltzman, right?” She heard from behind her, just as she was putting the soda bottle back in it’s designated place.

It was one of the wolves. Josie didn’t know his name, but she knew his face.

He was a good looking guy; well groomed, with dark blue eyes that complimented dark brown hair.

“Yes…” Josie smiled as politely as she could despite her confusion. “And you’re…”

“Marco,” The wolf offered his hand (which was huge compared to hers) for her to shake, and she did. “I’ve met your sister a few times, but I’m not sure I’ve ever met you.”

Josie almost scoffed. “I’m always lingering somewhere around her so, you probably have.”

She noticed that he had immensely white teeth when he smiled. For a minute she wondered if the moon was reflecting off of them rather than the sun.

“I don’t know why you hide in the background,” His bushy eyebrows drew together. “You’re just as beautiful as Lizzie, if not more so.”

Now she was the one frowning. What did her not being as social as Lizzie have to do with beauty?

Just as she opened her mouth to speak, someone called ‘Marco’ from afar. 

He kissed his teeth as glanced over his shoulder. “Don’t go anywhere,” He held his hand out in front of Josie, as though to keep her in place, before making his way towards whoever beckoned him.

Josie really wanted to leave. 

She looked over at Lizzie, who was a good few feet away entertaining a group of people. Just as she was about to go for it, someone else stepped in front of her.

“Hey,” Another wolf invaded her personal space. “I’m Izak.”

He also offered his hand for her to shake whilst never breaking eye contact. Josie was more than hesitant when she loosely shook his hand.

“Josie,”

“Yeah I know,” He laughed to himself. “Could I get you a drink?”

What the hell was happening tonight? 

She almost wondered if there was some kind of bet going on amongst the guys, because this was the first time in forever that she’d been approached by two guys in one night – let alone two guys in a matter of seconds.

“I’ve literally only just poured this one,” She moderately lifted the full-to-the-rim cup in her hand, which caused her new companion to sigh.

“Well, I’ll stay with you until you finish it.” Izak decided, coming to stand beside her.

Great. 

“You’ve been hanging around with Hope Mikaelson a lot,” The wolf commented.

“Yep,”

He paused for a moment, staring at her. “Are you not a little scared of her?”

“Are you?”

Izak dismissed the comment by laughing boisterously. “I’m a wolf. I don’t have to fear anyone,”

Josie tightened her smile and nodded. “Of course not,” She mumbled, bringing her drink to her lips.

She wondered why Marco hadn’t returned yet – not that she preferred his company over Izak’s, in fact she would much prefer to go and stand in the background of her sister’s conversation. 

When she rose to her tiptoes to search for him, she spotted the back of his head amongst a trio of people – and standing opposite him staring right back at her was Hope.

Josie couldn’t help but smile when catching the older girl’s eye, and Hope smiled in return – not as beamingly as Josie had but a smile nevertheless. 

This could be her chance to get out of this trap she’d wound up in. She widened her eyes and cocked her head towards Izak; for a minute Hope frowned, giving the impression that Josie’s message was lost in translation.

Either way, she excused herself from the conversation she hadn’t really been paying attention to anyway.

“So do you have a boyfriend?” Izak blurted out, way more slurred than he had been speaking before.

Josie jolted at the sudden sound and noticed that the previously half full cup in his hand was practically empty.

“No, but she has a girlfriend.” Hope let him know, setting her cup down on the table behind them.

“Why do you have to ruin all the fun?” Marco returned from thin air, throwing his arm lazily around Izak’s neck. “We were just talking to her,”

“And you were so sure that she was having fun too?” Hope arched her eyebrow challengingly. 

The wolves looked at Josie, then at each other before erupting into laughter. 

Marco took a step in Josie’s direction, and then Hope took a step in his.

“Leave her,” Her voice lowered to a threatening level, and the smug smile on Marco’s face was quickly turned into a scowl.

He towered over Hope, which didn’t seem to alarm her at all. 

“Wow Hope,” He began to sneer. “First tackling Jade, now squaring up to the wolves…and the one contributing factor?” Marco locked eyes with Josie. “Josette Saltzman.”

Izak began to laugh from behind him.

Josie soon realized that almost the entirety of the party’s eyes was on the confrontation, and she began to shift uncomfortably.

What was Marco getting at anyway?

“Is there something you’re not telling us, Mikaelson?” Izak jumped in, placing his hand on Marco’s shoulder (probably to balance his weight considering he was practically swaying)

Hope said nothing to them, but turned around to offer her hand out to Josie. “Let’s get out of here,”

“Everybody please give a round of applause to Hope Mikaelson,” Marco belted as Hope and Josie tried to make their escape. 

Both he and Izak began to clap slowly, but loudly, attracting any eyes that weren’t already watching. “You know, it takes a lot of courage to come out of the closet.”

Josie was shook by a sudden emptiness in her hand. Hope wasn’t by her side anymore.

There was a collective gasp being spread across the crowd, and then the sound of choking.

Hope had her hand pressed to Marco’s throat, and his face was beginning to redden. 

“If you as so much utter one more word to me,” Hope husked just below a whisper. “I will rip your throat out.”

No, nope. This wasn’t happening.

“Hope, stop it.” Josie took unhesitant steps towards the tribrid, grabbing hold of her arm. “Let’s just go.”

But Hope didn’t budge.

Izak was already tiptoeing away from the situation as subtly as he could (which wasn’t at all very subtle), but Hope was too locked onto Marco to even notice.

“Get away from her Josie,” Lizzie called from the thickness of the crowd, shimmying her way to the front. “I’m not going to tell you again,”

Okay, this definitely wasn’t happening.

Josie looked away from her sister, her eyes locking once again onto Hope who was still seemingly in a trance – and Marco wasn’t getting any better.

“Hope,” Josie called louder this time. “You’re going to make things so much worse for yourself if you don’t let go of him right now,” She added, trying to adopt a softer tone.

Josie could hear the heaviness in Hope’s breathing. Her jaw was clenched, her teeth almost grinding together.

She tried tugging on her arm, and still wound up with nothing.

“Cruciamen,” 

Josie’s head snapped in Lizzie’s direction to see her hand curling outwards. Her eyes were practically burning into the back of Hope’s head.

“Lizzie, no!” Josie threw herself in Lizzie’s direction, wanting to swat her hand away – but there was no use.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> dun dun dUUNNNN.
> 
> my brain has just not wanted to write much these past few days, and I'm feeling a little overwhelmed and stressed lately (covid does not help lol)
> 
> so I'm sorry for not updating sooner but do bare with, I am still doing my best to keep on top of this story and will update as frequently as I can
> 
> -f.  
> @bewitchinghosie


	27. Chapter 27

Hope’s hand flew to clutch her head, cries of agony pouring from her lips as she crumbled to the ground. 

Marco slumped alongside her, gasping for air and trying to crawl away from the centre of attention.

Josie watched as Lizzie showed no sign of stopping, and Hope’s cries continued to echo through the woods as she writhed on the concrete.

“Stop it!” Josie almost screamed before she grabbed a hold of her sister, breaking the link between the two of them.

Hope’s cries simmered to whimpers as she maintained her position on the ground, curling into a ball as her hands stayed clutching her head.

“What is the matter with you?” Josie’s voice broke as released her hold, knocking Lizzie backwards slightly.

“I told you to stay away from her,” Lizzie punctuated every word as she spoke. “Can’t you see she’s no good?”

Josie tilted her head in Hope’s direction.

The tribrid lay almost completely still, the only sign of life being her quiet whimpers and the sound of her boots scraping the ground every now and then.

“Because she lost her temper?” Josie directed her words towards Lizzie as she faced her again. “Because she broke down after being overwhelmed? Are you entirely unfamiliar with that, Lizzie?”

The crowd around them shifted uneasily, sounds of people sucking in their breath spreading like wildfire.

Lizzie just shook her head, a smile of disbelief shadowing her lips. “If you want to choose her over me, do it.” She took a step towards her twin. “But don’t think I’m going to be there to pick up any of the pieces when she goes completely off the rails again.”

The sound of Lizzie’s footsteps as she began to walk away rattled Josie’s brain – and then the crowds began to part too. 

Three of the wolves hurried over to throw Marco over their shoulder and followed the rest of the students out of the woods until eventually, it was just Hope and Josie.

Hope was just finally rousing when Josie started to walk towards her.

She sat up, giving one last final rub to her temples before letting her hands flop into her lap. “Your sister’s a bit of a bitch,” Her voice strained as she spoke; like it had scratched her throat as it came up.

Josie sighed as she came to sit beside the tribrid. “She’s just…really in her head about how dangerous you might be,”

Hope shook her head. “I was more dangerous two weeks ago than I am now,” She justified herself. “I mean, I’m not all the way there yet but I’m getting there.”

“I know that,” Josie found an interest in some of the autumnal leaves by her feet, deciding to give Hope just a few more minutes to recover as she toyed with them.

She tried to catch up with her own thoughts. 

Marco was teasing Hope about her sexuality, although as far as everyone was aware she was as straight as a ruler.

But…what he was saying wasn’t entirely untrue.

Hope had severely lost her temper twice that week, and both occasions were to do with Josie.

What was she so riled up about it?

“So, you’ve been quite temperamental this week.” Josie turned her attention back towards Hope, who was staring off into the distance. 

She laughed inwardly. “I guess I have been,”

“Any ideas as to why?”

Hope took in a deep breath, diverting her gaze to the ground. 

Josie got the idea that she may have just a hit and nerve and so decided against saying much more. Her mind instead wandered to the conversation she had with Lizzie just two days ago.

‘𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘩 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳,’

She decided to put the theory to the test by trying to sink into the moment and live in it. She hoped it would somehow help to decipher exactly how she was feeling.

It seemed to work pretty well.

She could feel the heat radiating from Hope’s presence beside her and instantaneously felt goosebumps erect against her skin. She subtly tilted her head in Hope’s direction, beginning to silently observed her movements.

Hope’s eyes were cast upon the leaves beneath them, and every now and then she reached down to fumble with one.

Hope had immaculate skin. It was so porcelain and radiant, with little to no flaws dimming it down. 

When she looked up towards the dimly lit school, her eyes were splashed by even more colour. She had the bluest eyes Josie had ever seen – it almost took her breath away, in fact it must have because she found her breathing becoming slightly erratic. 

Hope turned to face her all of a sudden, and Josie shot her head in a different direction as swiftly as she could.

“Are you okay?” Hope sounded somewhat concerned by the sudden rapid breathing coming from beside her.

“I’m fine,” Josie forced a smile. “Just getting a little cold.”

Hope pulled herself upwards from the ground, rubbing her hands against one another to rid any debris they’d collected. 

“Let’s go inside,” Hope reached her hand out for Josie to take, which she did.

And considering she was still living in the moment, she found Hope’s warm touch almost electrifying.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeeesh. so much drama.
> 
> -f.  
> @bewitchinghosie


	28. Chapter 28

At first the two of them started making their way to the dorm room that Josie shared with Lizzie, but were quickly reminded of the current situation and instead continued forward to Hope’s room.

“You can sleep in my bed and I’ll sleep on the sofa, if you want.” Hope offered, closing the door behind her and slipping off her jacket.

Hope’s room always smelt like a mixture of lavender and vanilla – it was a scent that Josie had sort of always linked to Hope.

Her clothes smelt like this too, but with a slight tinge of floral laundry detergent too. Not that Josie embraced the scent whenever they were stood in close proximity or anything…

Although Josie nodded along in agreement to the sleeping arrangements, the two of them sat on top of the bed together once Hope had switched on the nightlight.

“You never did say why you’ve been temperamental,” Josie tried once more. 

Maybe now that they were in a calmer environment, she’d get an answer from her.

“You’re quite persistent, aren’t you?” Hope couldn’t help but laugh at how eager Josie could be when she wanted to know something.

Josie just shrugged, resting her back against the headboard.

“I’ve been a little hot-headed since we got back from Bridgepeak,” Hope began to explain. “I think it was maybe a mixture of not catching the Mournling, and then…” 

Her voice trailed off. She cleared her throat.

“What?” Josie encouraged, silently shifting her weight closer to Hope.

“I missed that party,” Hope settled for saying. “Maybe if I’d have went I would have wound up kissing someone too,” She chuckled apprehensively to herself. “That might have made me feel better.”

Josie’s eyebrows knitted together. “You’re temperamental because we didn’t catch the Mournling, and because you never got kissed?”

Hope realized just how insane she sounded now, and couldn’t really think of a way to backtrack. 

“No,” She denied hurriedly. “Maybe it was because I saw you kissing Jade, and we all know how I feel about her.”

Josie pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and nodded understandingly.

“Although…that doesn’t necessarily explain why you lashed out at her the next day.”

Oh fuck. Was it getting hot in there?

“Well, you know,” Hope very hastily began to fall over her own words. “She was getting kissed and I wasn't."

“But I was also getting kissed, and it wasn’t me you tackled.” Josie returned calmly, completely oblivious to what she was doing to Hope.

Hope licked at her lips fumblingly. “Well…I can actually tolerate you," She offered. "I hate Jade, and she was getting to kiss you. I wouldn’t be envious of anyone who was kissing Jade,” 

Surely she was out of the woods now, right? She’d saved herself pretty well.

“So then…you were envious of her getting to kiss me?”

Oh boy.

Hope opened her mouth to speak, but she was out of words.

What more could she say?

There was no way of escaping this.

She turned her head in Josie’s direction to see that Josie was facing her as well.

Their noses were inches away from brushing, yet Josie looked so perfectly tranquil as she stared into Hope’s eyes.

And if Hope wasn’t mistaken, she would say that Josie was leaning in.

Their lips collided clumsily at first. It was cautious, like Josie was testing the waters before diving in.

Hope didn’t pull away.

And so Josie went in a second time, this time not as ineptly. 

She tried to show more passion by parting her lips to capture Hope’s bottom one, and then she brought her hand to the back of Hope’s neck.

Hope eventually caught up with her movements and shadowed them, but instead of her hand resting at the nape of her neck she pulled at the hair that rested just above it.

Josie broke their kiss as her tilted upwards ever so slightly, and let out a barely audible whimper of approval.

The two of them began to get lost in the heat of the movement.

Hope readjusted their position by climbing to her knees and hovering over Josie, whose hips she took hold of and pulled downwards so that the brunette was resting on her back below her.

She basked in the way Josie looked up at her with hooded eyes, full of expectance. 

She had complete power over the situation. It was down to her to either pull the reigns, or go with the flow.

The choice was made for her when Josie lifted her head to collide their lips again, her hands snaking their way along Hope’s hips and halting at the top of her back.

Hope pulled away to steal kisses along Josie’s jaw line, and then her neck and throat.

Josie kept tugging and pulling at the t-shirt Hope was wearing, and Hope smiled every time the eagerness would show.

“What’re you trying to do?” Hope whispered into her ear, nipping at her earlobe afterwards.

“I want it off,” Josie panted out through breathless whimpers.

It must have been the adrenaline in her system that caused Hope to sit up and remove the shirt, but she was back to hovering over the younger girl seconds later.

Josie was more than satisfied with the new surface area she had to work with.

Every time Hope would bite or kiss at her skin, Josie would claw at her back.

The air between them was getting thicker, and soon enough Josie was pulling off her own shirt.

Josie turned her head to the side when Hope began to kiss down her throat, to her chest…

There were new pictures on the wall.

Where just weeks before was bare, was now a small assortment of photos glu-tacked to the wall.

Hope and her parents, Hope and her family and then Hope, Lizzie and Josie. There was even two polaroid's that only Josie and Hope featured in - polaroid's that Lizzie had taken. 

That’s when something clicked.

“Wait,” She pushed ever so slightly on Hope’s shoulders, and Hope brought her actions to a sudden halt.

“What’s wrong?”

Josie’s eyes were still fixed on the wall, so Hope followed her stare.

“It was me, wasn’t it?” Josie asked.

Hope looked from the pictures, to Josie. “What?”

The both of them were hot messes: lips swollen, hair messy, cheeks flushed.

“You told me it wasn’t your parent’s death, or Landon’s death that made you switch off your humanity,” She glanced back towards the tribrid whose breathing was steadying now. “It was mine, wasn’t it?” 

Hope looked away. What a mood changer.

“Seeing the other deaths was enough to wear you down, but it was mine that pushed you over the edge...wasn't it?” Josie added, blindly reaching for her shirt and setting it in her lap.

Hope didn’t have to say anything. The silence was enough of an answer.

Josie’s heart dove into the pit of her stomach, and then back-flipped into her chest again double the size.

They stayed like that for a minute, in silence, with Hope knelt in front of her holding her t shirt to her chest.

“It was you,” Hope finally confirmed. “It was your death that made me turn it off, and it was Jade being all over you that made me temperamental.”

Josie felt as though Hope’s words were sucking the oxygen from her, because she was beginning to get breathless again.

“I didn’t realise it at first,” She shifted into a more comfortable sitting position. “But when I did, everything just started to make sense.”

Josie could just about hear Hope talking over her own heavy breathing and racing thoughts.

This was a lot to come to terms with. She’d only just accepted that she had a crush on Hope, and now she was finding that it was being reciprocated?

As usual, their talk was interrupted by a sporadic pounding on the door.

“Hope, open up.” 

It was Jed.

Hope sighed, grabbing her t-shirt and throwing it over her head hurriedly before hopping off the bed and making her way towards the door.

She stole another glance at Josie, who’d just about put her own shirt back on and was fixing up her hair.

The reasoning for Jed’s unannounced visit was obvious when Hope opened the door.

He was stood with one arm resting against the doorframe and the other on his hip, like an irritated dad about to scold a child.

“Can we talk?” He asked, though Hope knew only one specific answer would be accepted.

“Sure,” She shrugged. “But not here.”

The door clicked shut after Hope disappeared on the other side of it, and Josie listened as their distorted voices quietened the further down the hall they got.

When she decided the coast was clear, she scrambled off the bed and grabbed her jacket.

She took one look in the mirror that was perched on Hope’s desk, and decided that she was the epitome of a ‘hot mess’.

And then she remembered she didn’t really have a place to go.

The remembrance of her fight with Lizzie visibly deflated her. Her shoulders dropped, and so did her hands.

She and Lizzie had fallen out many times – countless times, actually. 

But she was genuinely at a lot loss for something she could say to make things right with Lizzie, not to mention that she believed Lizzie should be the one apologizing.

With little to no idea of what she was going to say to her twin, Josie left Hope’s dorm room and made a start towards her own.

-

The lights were out. Lizzie was sound asleep in her bed, her heavy breathing making that known to Josie who crept her way in as silently as she could.

She was relieved for more reasons than one.

It meant they didn’t have to talk about anything right away, and she hoped that Lizzie would wake up a lot calmer than she was that night.

It also gave Josie time to unclog her brain. She had a lot of ‘coming to terms’ to deal with.

Hope had admitted to having a crush on her – and Josie had reciprocated with an eager kiss. 

She wondered what this meant going forward, and then she wondered how a relationship with Hope would impact the relationship she has with Lizzie.

She let out a sigh at the very thought of the complexity – a sigh that must have been louder than she thought, because Lizzie began to shift under her duvet which ruffled in response.

“Jo?” Lizzie’s voice was hoarse from disuse.

“Yeah, it’s just me.” Josie said to the darkness, which was suddenly dismissed by the beam from the bedside lamp Lizzie had switched on.

Both girls sat up and gave their pupils a minute to dilate and adjust. 

Josie was first to look at Lizzie, who rubbed sleepily at her eyes before finally giving her sister attention. 

“Where have you been?” Lizzie’s eyes would still close over momentarily, her eyelids still weighing heavy in her sleepy state.

Josie gulped, finding interest in a loose thread on her duvet. “I was with Hope,”

A scoff caused her to grit her teeth.

“Of course you were,” Lizzie’s tone of disapproval was painfully evident. “I don’t know what it’s going to take for you to stop seeing her.”

Her words sparked a flame deep within the core of Josie’s stomach. She was hit with a wave that carried every single time Lizzie had tried to control her decisions.

The wave was the first of many, and Josie soon found herself in the middle of a tsunami. 

It dated back to when she was fourteen.

Lizzie told her not to accept Harry’s invitation to the ball because he wasn’t suitable for her; she obliged and then spent the entire night alone whilst Lizzie danced with an array of boys and she was stuck watching Harry dance the night away with Elizabeth Gilbert.

There were many more occasions like this one, where Josie had abided by Lizzie’s wishes despite her own unhappiness – and Josie still wound up getting hurt.

Of course, the most recent one before Hope was Penelope Park.

The very thought of the memory erected surface wounds in Josie’s heart. She could still remember how Penelope’s voice cracked when she told her that she couldn’t continue to watch her put herself second.

Lizzie’s continuous blabbering about why Hope wasn’t good for her sister was falling upon deaf ears, unbeknownst to her.

“You don’t know the toxicity that she could bring to our lives-“ 

Josie finally tuned back into the conversation, only to interrupt it.

“My life,” She said. Lizzie frowned. “It would be my life, Lizzie – because we are separate beings.”

Lizzie scoffed, shaking her head as though Josie’s words were untrue. Maybe she genuinely thought they were.

“I am so tired of you trying to tell me how to live my life.” The defeat in Josie’s voice as she spoke must have finally been apparent, because Lizzie’s mocking expression faltered. 

“You don’t know how to make the right decisions,” Lizzie gave her head a shake, a shadowing smile of disbelief curling at the corner of her mouth

Josie almost lost it. “I wouldn’t know that because you never let me make my own decisions,” 

Her twin rolled her eyes whilst Josie straightened her back, the upper half of her body turned in Lizzie’s direction. 

She was only just getting started when a wave of realisation washed over her, one that caused her skin to crawl and rouse goosebumps which covered the entirety of her body.

“If we carry on like this…we’re not going to end up being in each other’s lives.”

Lizzie’s head snapped in Josie’s direction, her eyes wide and alert as her mouth bopped open only to settle into a thin line seconds later.

All features of her face eventually dropped as the two stared at each other for half a minute, then Lizzie reached over to aggressively flick the switch of the lamp off and turn towards the wall.

Josie allowed her eyes to drift shut, feeling tears begin to brim and burn at them.

She fell back against her pillow and welcomed the tears that soon trailed down her face.

Not wanting Lizzie to know that she was crying, every time she got the dire need to sniffle she would wipe the residue away with the sleeve of her sweatshirt.

She kept closing her eyes, wanting to just fall asleep. But her eyes kept flying open seconds after she’d close them.

She had to get out of that room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i haven't been writing much lately. i feel like coronavirus is interfering with my mental health again lmao, so i just haven't been in the right mindset to pick up my laptop and write.
> 
> this chapter is nice and lengthy (I hope)
> 
> sorry if this just a mess. it isn't my favourite chapter.
> 
> enjoy.  
> -f.  
> oh btw I'm under a new twitter handle now: @lgbtfay


	29. Chapter 29

Josie pulled herself up from the comfort of her bed and fumbled in the darkness until she found the door handle.

There was always a chill in the air of the hallways when it was night time. Maybe the only reason they were warm of a day was because there was a constant flow of people passing through them.

Still, they were cold right now as Josie wrapped her arms around herself and headed towards the main doors.

She hated how every step she took echoed through the school, it made her feel unnervingly exposed.

She felt even worse when she stepped out into the night. Although the air outside somehow provided her with more warmth than the school had, she was now in almost complete darkness - and she felt more exposed than ever before.

Josie had forgotten just how much of a clearing surrounded the school.

All she could see across the vast amount of neatly trimmed grass was tall standing trees coated in darkness, hidden by the night. 

As owls hooted and crickets chirped, Josie tried to convince herself that she wasn’t alone.

An owl could protect her, right?

She jolted when the door behind her clicked shut in response to her absence, and she had to take a deep breath to try and slow her irregular breathing. 

It was just the door, she told herself.

She kept her arms wrapped tightly around herself as she disappeared into the night, heading away from almost any security lights the school provided as she made a b-line for the woods.

As soon as she adjusted to the new surroundings, her mind traced back to why she’d felt the need to come out here in the first place.

Ah, yes – her deteriorating relationship with her sister.

Despite the fact that Josie had been dealing with Lizzie’s controlling ways for almost her entire life, she found herself feeling not only surprised, but frustrated that Lizzie was trying to have so much control over her non-existent relationship with Hope.

Perhaps deep down she had convinced herself that Lizzie would grow out of it, that it was just a strange, possessive phase she had been going through.

Her disgust and disregard for Josie even spending time with Hope proved that theory wrong, and now Josie was fretting over how Lizzie would react to something more romantic blossoming between the two of them.

She wondered how far Lizzie would go to show her disapproval. Maybe she wouldn’t talk to her…or maybe she’d even go as far as trying to drive them apart by starting some kind of crude rumour.

Josie often found herself getting lost in thoughts of how many sacrifices to her own happiness she would make for Lizzie to be happy, and she always wound up disappointed in herself when she got her answer.

Now she was in a position like that again. Would she, once again, sacrifice something she knew would make her happy for Lizzie’s benefit?

The be all and end all was as simple and as complicated as this: lose Hope or lose Lizzie.

Josie let a rather loud groan escape her lips, and the echo it resulted in was enough to bring her back to Earth.

It was then that she noticed how far she had wandered out. 

The lights of the school were almost indistinguishable from the fireflies that populated the area she stood in.

An unsettling chill crept up her spine upon noticing how isolated she had made herself. 

Every slight sound was amplified by sheer silence, so much so that the loudest thing in the area was her own breathing.

She found herself feeling like prey, frantically searching for the presence of a predator lurking in the dark.

The opening of the woods was just meters away from Josie, and she’d turned her back to it in the midst of a self-conscious frenzy.

-

“I’m serious Hope,” Jed did his best to scold the tribrid for causing such a scene at his birthday party. “You can’t attack your own people like that. I won’t allow it,”

Hope scrunched her nose disapprovingly. “Well, they’re hardly my people.” 

Jed gritted his teeth, cocking his head to the side. “What?”

“I’m a tribrid.” Hope reminded him. “So I can sort of target whoever I want if I feel as though they’re mocking me.”

Jed went to speak, but decided against it. He folded his arms across his chest, which Hope noticed made him appear bigger. “I don’t want to have this conversation with you again Hope,”

Wanting the entire thing to end, Hope feigned an innocent smile. “I’ll stay out of trouble,”

It was more than obvious that Hope was playing a part, but if Jed noticed he didn’t say so. He nodded his head, then turned on his heel and disappeared down the hallway.

Hope couldn’t hold back the winning smirk that slid onto her lips as she headed back towards her dorm room, closing and locking the door behind her.

The tangled bed sheets that she was met with where a particularly heated reminder of what her and Josie had managed to get up to before Jed’s interruption.

She felt a familiar heat begin to pool in her abdomen, and quickly turned herself away from the sheets in a desperate attempt to not go down that road right now.

Still, her eyes flickered golden and a painful ache in her gums let her know that her fangs were elongating.

That’s when she remembered it had been awhile since she’d fed, almost eight hours actually. 

She blinked a few times, wanting to rid the golden flecks as she opened up her dresser to retreat a blood bag. She'd grabbed a handful of them during her last visit to the hospital.

All she was met with was abandoned makeup brushes and the occasional ring that she never really wore anymore.

She huffed at the emptiness. She was really not in the mood to go hunting for blood bags right now, but the hollow ache in her stomach was starting to make her feel ill.

With that in mind, she grabbed her boots and headed for the door.

-

Hope wanted to avoid the CCTV cameras that were perched on top of the main gate. The last thing she needed was to be caught sneaking off past curfew when she’d only just started to gain back people’s trust.

She knew their first assumption would be that she was hunting humans again.

Hope strayed from the path when she slipped around the back of the school and started walking towards the woods.

She was seemingly unfazed by the emptiness of the clearing and the uncertainty of the woods; she was a tribrid – almost nothing scared Hope…almost.

The only light source, despite the gradually fading ones provided by the school, was the moon. 

It cast shadows amongst the trees, making the route ahead of Hope almost inexistent. 

She could hear footsteps crunching against leaves a few meters to the left, like someone was walking hurriedly. It stopped her in her tracks.

Hope looked in the direction she’d assumed the noise was coming from and watched as a silhouette past through the trees, hands drawn upwards to soothe cold arms.

Who the hell was taking a walk in the woods this late at night?

Not wanting to leave a fellow student to fend for themselves, Hope started making her way towards the path they seemed to be taking.

She shadowed their movements from a few feet behind and tried to be as stealthy as possible.

Dark locks were lit up by the moonlight when a break came through the trees, leading Hope to believe that the person she was following could be Josie.

Come to think of it, Josie was wearing an impeccably similar outfit only an hour or so ago.

Hope picked up her pace, a smile hinting at her lips at the very sight of the siphoner. She was just about to call her name when the word got stuck in her throat.

Her gaze was ripped from Josie, and instead settled on the very cause of all her current life issues. The Mournling stood less than a meter in front of her, right in front of Josie.

Just as Hope used her supernatural speed to launch forward, the Mournling caught her easily by the throat.

Josie took a step back, her eyes alert and breathing erratic as she tried to digest the sight before her.

Doe eyes darted from the Mournling, to Hope, and back again.

“Well, look what we have here.” He added to the colossal of noises that were echoing through the woods: Hope struggling to breathe through the hold he had her in, and Josie’s breathless pants.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a writing spurt !! 
> 
> hope you enjoyed it.
> 
> also, a token of appreciation to my good friend paige who helped me find what I wanted to say with a lil bit of this chapter, and with quite a chunk of the upcoming chapter. <3 
> 
> -f.  
> @lgbtfay


	30. Chapter 30

“Why am I not surprised?” The Mournling grew tired of Hope gasping for air and released her in midair, only for her to fall to the ground like a dead weight.

It took her a minute to catch her breath, but she was back on her feet and standing beside Josie once she had.

Josie subconsciously stepped closer to Hope, almost forgetting herself when she nearly took hold of Hope’s arm.

“Hope, you seem to have forgotten everything I taught you.” He expressed his disappointment in her, though there was mocking tone to his voice as he shook his head. 

“You know, it’s a good thing I like you.” He took a step forward, causing the two girls to take a step backwards. “And therefore, I am willing to teach you again.” 

Before the girl in question even had time to react, the Mournling reached out to yank Hope towards him. 

Josie whimpered, desperately reaching her own arm out in a poor attempt to keep the tribrid near her. 

“Walk away, Josie.” Hope commanded through gritted teeth as the Mournling pulled her back into him, one arm wrapped around her throat as they stood facing the helpless siphoner.

“No, no.” The Mournling chuckled to himself. “I think she should be able to see how this works; it could help with some…future academic studies,” He poorly justified his cruel intentions. 

He stared Josie down with a Cheshire cat smile, leaning towards Hope’s ear and whispering his magic words: “Invadenti,”

Hope choked out a whimper as her head tilted further back into the Mournling’s shoulder.

Josie stumbled towards a tree and rested there, her mouth ajar and eyelids heavy as she contemplated just how much of a loss she was at with this situation.

She took advantage of her hand being placed on the tree and attempted to siphon from it, only for nothing to happen in return.

As for Hope, she was stood in the doorway of Jade’s dorm room. 

It was night time.

Jade was sat against the headboard of her bed, with Josie on her knees in front of her. They were giggling, and finding any kind of excuse to put their hands on one another.

Hope felt her jaw grinding down on her teeth, her fingernails making dents in her palms.

Jade must have said something exceptionally funny that Hope had missed, because Josie used her laughter as an excuse to lean closer to the vampire – and then there was a moment.

A moment where both their coquettish expressions faltered and Josie started to lean in a little more.

“Wait,” Jade raised her hand and placed it on Josie’s shoulder, stopping her movements. “What about Hope?”

Hope’s ears perked at the mention of her own name.

“What about her?” Josie seemed completely baffled by the mention of the tribrid.

“I thought you two were…starting things up,”

Josie scoffed, in a way that Hope decided was mockingly. “Hope Mikaelson?” She said her name with such disgust that Hope felt her heart break in a half a little.

“Hope Mikaelson is nothing.”

Jade eyed Josie up before smiling, then closing the distance between them.

The heat between the two of them rose drastically, to the point where Hope felt as though she was trapped in a room with a growing inferno.

It all happened so quickly.

Josie crawled on top of Jade, who was quick to flip their positions around and was rewarded with a whimper of pleasure from the siphoner.

“You’re so much more than Hope,” Josie whispered into Jade’s mouth between kisses.

Hope nearly growled in response, a dire need to prevent the altercation going any further beginning to pool in her stomach. 

She tried to throw herself forward, only to realise that she was paralyzed.

So she was stuck like that for a few more minutes, watching the girl she had a crush on make out with a girl that she hated, and hearing them both decide that she was absolutely nothing.

Then all of a sudden, she was back in the woods again.

Her eyes first landed on Josie, who was on the ground slouched against a tree. She was already staring up at Hope, her face tearstained and the rim of her eyes red – even her nose was all flushed. 

She let out a breath of relief at the sight of Hope’s open eyes and pried herself to her feet with a sniffle.

“Hope,” She pronounced the name cautiously. “Don’t believe anything he’s showing you,” Her voice broke as she pleaded.

Hope shook her head, avoiding any further eye contact. “It’s not as simple as that; I can’t tell when I’m in a simulation.” She strained out through the sudden lump in her throat.

The Mournling basked in the statement. “And the best part is, we wouldn’t have had to do this if you would have just kept it off.” He rested his chin against Hope’s shoulder to whisper into her ear.

Hope squirmed beneath his hold. “My humanity isn’t on,” She told him, and it wasn’t a complete lie.

“But it’s not off, is it?”

She squeezed her eyes shut, feeling defeated already as she shook her head.

Hope was so lost in her defeat that she hadn’t even heard the Mournling whisper the word again.

Her eyes flew open as soon as she heard a dark chuckle, which sounded an awful lot like Josie’s, fill the silence of the night.

Despite still having tearstained red eyes, Josie was wearing a malicious grin and practically strutting towards Hope.

“You’re so weak,” She told her with no ounce of remorse.

Any resemblance of pain or terror that was previously on her face had now been completely erased. In fact, she was almost smirking at Hope’s state.

“How can it be that someone as mighty as you, has been so easily broken?” Josie continued to probe, now face to face with Hope. “I can’t even believe that I considered dating you.”

Hope felt an icy shiver crawl through her spine whilst a pain struck her chest. 

“What?” She choked out, her voice just above a whisper.

Josie shook her head and took another step towards the tribrid. “I think you’re pathetic”, her voice was quiet now, but carried so much venom it. “You were better when you’d turn it off.” 

Hope’s ears perked at that.

“You were so brave, and ruthless.” Josie continued. Her voice had become softer now, her facial features relaxing. “And now you’re nothing.”

Hope squeezed her eyes shut, trying to block out the chuckling that now fell from the Mournling’s lips.

“That’s not something you want to hear,” He grinned into her ear. 

Josie grinned right back.

“Turn it off,” Josie commanded, softer than ever – almost as though what she was saying was some kind of solution. 

Hope just kept her eyes closed.

She thought, like she had once before, about all the pain in her life. Josie thinking she was nothing was now a contributing factor to that.

Countless minutes past.

When she reopened her eyes, Josie was back to being slouched against a tree – this time she was sobbing.

Hope just stared at her whilst the Mournling cautiously loosened his grip and took a step backwards.

“There we are,” He rubbed his hand together conceitedly, admiring Hope like she was a prize. “She’s brand new again.”

Judging from the way the tribrid stood so still and so empty, she seemed as though she had been entirely rebooted.

“Let’s test it, shall we?” The Mournling pushed past Hope and towards Josie, grabbing her by the neck and yanking her up. 

Josie struggled to get free, but her attempts were in vain. His supernatural strength was too much for her to take. 

She couldn’t believe the weight of the crushing grip on her throat. 

Her lightheadedness became more and more prominent as she clawed and scratched at the creature, who was staring back at her with a grimace smile on his face. 

Her vision fogged in response to the oxygen she was losing and her body began to feel very unnaturally heavy.

There was a grotesque snapping sound just before Josie fell to the floor, gasping for air. 

As she regained her senses, painfully slowly, she could finally make out her saviour. 

Hope towered over her with her back turned, her attention being cast upon the Mournling who lay clutching his disfigured arm.

His face showed an intense rage, something that seemed so unnatural given his normally calm and taunting demeanor.

This was something he truly hadn’t expected. 

It was strange, yet thrilling, for them to see him in such disbelief.

Josie watched cautiously as he stood from a slouch and collected his composure. 

The anger on his face twisted back to the usual calm, smug expression that had haunted Hope’s thoughts. 

Josie tried to bring herself to a stance, but was still weak from the previous attack. She didn’t get far off the ground before wobbling back down. 

She could only watch helplessly whatever was about to unfold.

“You’re just full of surprises, aren’t you?” The spite in what he said was almost visible, as the mournling hissed out the question through gritted teeth. 

He awaited a response from Hope, but she knew better.

He was trying to fluster her, looking for something he could exploit. She knew that and stayed stoic, aware of what was at risk - aware of who was at risk. 

Hope watched as his eyes began to twitch. 

The more she could anger him by not giving him what he wants, the more likely he’d be to make a mistake - that was when she’d finish him off. 

He looked around in enraged disbelief, the smirk never leaving his lips. “So you’ve got your humanity. Good job. I’d give you a little clap, but you know.” he said, gesturing to his broken arm. 

Hope could almost see him foaming at the mouth, seething with rage; until she saw something click within him and the rage just slipped away. 

“Well if you have your humanity back, then that means you won’t do anything inhumane in front of your little friend.” He looked toward Josie tauntingly. “You don’t want her seeing your darkness, do you?”

Once he looked back towards Hope, she rushed in. 

She came at him with force, knocking him through the air and onto the ground. 

He struggled to lift himself back up, and even before he could he was met with a swift kick which reset his progress. 

The same boot pressed down on his neck; it wasn’t enough to kill him but enough to hold him in place in his weakened state. 

Josie watched as Hope loomed over the tormenter, staring down on him with disdain. 

Hope slowly turned her head to lock eyes with Josie. 

They stared at each other for (what seemed like) hours.

Hope’s features had softened as soon as they had locked eyes – but then her face took on a look of desperation.

Josie suddenly understood the reasoning behind their unbreakable eye contact; Hope was looking for something from her.

Permission.

Not even a beat of hesitation passed through Josie. She simply nodded.

A wave of relief crashed over Hope before she turned back to look at the adversary beneath her feet.

The disbelief in his eyes was unmistakable – and Hope loved that look.

Her attention fell back to the boot that was pressed onto the Mournling’s neck, and she began to add more pressure to his windpipe.

“I should really thank you, you know,” Hope began to clench her jaw, continuing to press harder. “Turning my humanity off did a lot of things for me. It gave me more confidence, made me realise my abilities,” 

His movements grew more erratic and his eyes more desperate as Hope carried on. 

“But more importantly than that...” She slowly leaned down, pressing her entire bodyweight against an already breaking windpipe as a slow, sultry whisper began to pour from her mouth. “It gave me the ability to enjoy every single second of this”. 

The Mournling’s face was now a satisfying, pale shade of purple. His hands fell limp at her boot. 

Hope found herself feeling overly cautious and therefore waited a few more seconds before removing herself from his neck.

She let out a huff of air, flicking her hair out of her face as she turned to look at Josie – who was staring ahead at the scene with an unreadable expression plastered on her face.

Hope’s eyes suddenly shut momentarily as she hit an unexpected wall of fatigue that almost knocked her off her feet.

She stumbled her way towards Josie and slumped to the ground beside the younger girl. 

Josie quickly straightened herself, giving all her attention to Hope. “Are you okay?” She asked in a panic, taking hold of her face and examining it.

“I’m just tired,” Hope husked out, her eyes still closed. 

Josie’s eyes darted across every inch of Hope’s body, looking for damage. “Here,” She rolled up the sleeve of her shirt without even hesitating. “Drink some of this,”

Hope peered through heavy eyelids before pushing the offering away. “I’m not doing that,” She pulled herself further up against the tree. “I just need a minute to get my energy back,”

Josie huffed, rolling her sleeve back down. “I don’t blame you,”

Hope didn’t say anything.

So, Josie decided to just sit there with her for however long Hope needed her to.

“What did he manipulate you with this time?” Josie asked once she felt as though she had been quiet for long enough. Hope seemed more awake now.

Hope scoffed, turning to lock eyes with her. “You, it’s always you.”

Josie heard herself gasp lowly. Hope heard it too.

“Let’s get you out of here,” Josie rose to her feet and offered a helping hand to the tribrid, who pushed herself up off the ground.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i've read this chapter one too many times and now I hate it !!! but hopefully you guys feel otherwise.  
> it's been a long month.
> 
> -f.  
> @lgbtfay


	31. Chapter 31

Josie sort of liked how it felt to be at Hope’s aid.

She had her arm around the older girl’s waist, whilst Hope had an arm draped around her neck. 

It was more than obvious that Hope was low on energy, and therefore low on blood. She wanted to fix that.

The lights from the school came into view as soon as they left the woods. Josie could see two silhouettes stood just outside of the doorway, looking around the area.

“Who is that?” Josie squinted in hope of being able to make out the two figures.

Hope did her best to pick up a voice. “I think it’s Lizzie, and your dad.”

Josie rolled her eyes and groaned, throwing her head back. “Well, this should be good.”

Soon enough, the two arrived right outside the doorway – and Hope was proven right.

Alaric immediately took a stance of interrogation, as did Lizzie – you really could tell that they were father and daughter.

Lizzie was grinding her jaw, her eyes locked onto Josie’s whilst Alaric stared Hope out.

“Do you want to try and explain to me what the hell you two were doing out in the woods?” Alaric bellowed, clearly having no remorse for any sleeping students inside.

“Hope killed The Mournling.” Josie blurted out, releasing her arm from the girls waist.

Lizzie’s features fell as her stare pierced Hope instead.

“What?” Alaric’s voice stooped as he took a careful step towards the tribrid. “How? Are you alright?” He went to place his hand on her shoulder, but Hope took a step backwards.

“I’m fine. He had Josie,” Hope began bluntly, clearly just wanting to get back inside. “I just…did what I had to do,”

“How did you have the strength to manage that one, Hope?” Lizzie gave a snarky remark. 

Hope took a deep breath after meeting Lizzie’s judging gaze. “Is that really relevant?”

“Well, yes.” Alaric defended. “But one thing at a time,” 

“He tried to torment her again,” Josie stepped in. “He could tell her humanity wasn’t completely off, so he tried to make it that way.” She glanced at Hope, then back at her father. “But then she tricked him, and was able to get a hold over him.”

It was silent for a few seconds after that. 

Alaric was trying to digest the situation, and Lizzie was trying to think of a way to critique it.

“You saved Josie, you saved yourself and you saved every other person at this school.” Alaric finally concluded. “I’m proud of you Hope,”

Hope gave a small smile of appreciation. 

“Maybe now you should think about upgrading the blood supply,” Josie told him. “She wouldn’t have been able to do what she did if she hadn’t been using human blood bags.”

Alaric’s eyes turned to daggers at the revelation, but then they softened again. 

“Just…give me some time on that one,” He scratched with uncertainty at his head, turning on his heel and heading back inside.

Lizzie stood still, her arms crossed against her chest. 

There wasn’t as much judgement or anger on her face now, in fact Josie would say she seemed…embarrassed. 

“You guys should get back inside,” She stepped to one side as though to let them through.

Hope didn’t need telling twice before she hurried in, wanting nothing more than to get back to her dorm room and catch up with herself.

Josie, on the other hand, lingered a little longer. 

“Make sure she’s okay,” Lizzie spoke softly, an apologetic smile shadowing her lips.

Josie was a little taken aback by Lizzie’s sudden change of heart, so merely nodded in response before following Hope back to her room.

Hope had left the door open a few inches for Josie. 

She’d thrown herself onto the bed; face down. 

“Are you feeling okay?” Josie couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight as she closed the door behind her.

“Just a little wiped out,” Hope mumbled against the covers, eventually turning onto her back and staring up at the ceiling.

Josie made her way towards the bed, perching self on the end of it. She didn’t want to get too comfortable since she didn’t know how long she would be staying.

“Thank you, for what you did out there.” Josie realized she hadn’t yet showed appreciation to Hope.

“It’s about time someone killed that thing,” Hope turned onto her back and lifted her head to rest her hands below it. “He was starting to really piss me off,”

Josie laughed, subtly nuzzling a little further into the bed. Maybe she would stay a little longer than planned.

The last time they were alone together, things escalated quite drastically. 

Josie had almost forgotten about that until she noticed the way Hope’s shirt had lifted slightly at the edges when she’d put her hands behind her head.

“You do look a little run down,” She diverted her staring back to Hope’s face instead of anywhere else.

It was a little paler than usual, and her lips were a little dry; she was essentially in a less extreme state to how she looked during the trip to Bridgepeak.

Hope almost laughed. “It’s called hunger,” Her eyes flickered to Josie’s. “I was going to get some blood bags when I ran into you.”

Josie pursed her lips, nodding understandingly.

“You know, we haven’t talked much since the other night.” Hope pushed herself upwards.

Josie looked at her blankly.

“After we kissed…” Hope went on, bringing a light of realization to Josie’s eyes.

“Oh!” She felt a rush of heat coat her cheeks. “Yeah, we haven’t.” She found herself taking comfort in loose threads on the duvet beneath her.

“I think I’d just gotten around to telling you that when I realized it,” Hope seemed completely unfazed by the vulnerability that inevitably came along with such a confession. “Everything started to make sense.”

‘It’ – is that what their feelings where now, an ‘it’?

“I didn’t want it to be true.” Hope continued to take the lead in the conversation whilst Josie stared back at her, almost dumbfounded by the entire ordeal. “After the person I’d started to become, getting feelings for you seemed like a curse. I’ve been an awful, cruel person; the thought of getting you involved terrified me.”

The two of them stared at each other with indistinguishable looks.

Josie quickly realized that it was probably her turn to talk now.

“Ever since the Mournling came here and laid hands of you, I never stopped trying to find a way to bring you back.”

Hope took a deep breath, holding it for a moment before exhaling. 

Josie couldn't tell whether that was a good sign or a bad one; she hoped that she was simply bracing herself for the tsunami of emotions she was about to be hit with.

"In a way, I guess you could say that I got quite obsessed with the entire ordeal." Josie giggled a bit at that. "But I just couldn't bare the thought that we might have lost you."

A curl of a smile hinted at the corner of Hope's mouth. 

"I never gave up on you, Hope. I never for a second truly believed that you were a lost cause." 

Hope knew that already - but she definitely didn't mind hearing it straight from Josie's mouth. 

"Am I interrupting?" Lizzie peered around the crack in the door that she'd already opened herself. 

Josie found herself instinctively shimmying away from the close proximity she and Hope had found themselves in: sitting cross-legged in front of each other, their kneecaps pressed together in a desperate attempt to be close.

"Um," She glanced over at Hope who was wearing the same dumbfounded expression. "No, you're not." Josie settled for saying.

Hope didn't seem to mind though, as they both spun around to get up off of the bed.

"Actually Hope," Lizzie invited herself further into the room. "I wanted to talk to you." She said, not unkindly, but still in a way that caused a wave of worry to spread through Josie's chest. "Alone."

Hope seemed entirely unfazed, a little irritated, but not apprehensive at all. 

“It’s okay,” Hope felt the need to appease Lizzie’s request. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

Josie simply nodded in acknowledgement, shooting Lizzie what she hoped was a glare of warning, but in reality it reeked of desperation.

When she left the room, she waited outside for a few seconds. 

She listened as carefully as she could, but all she was greeted by was low vibrations of their voices. It was enough for her to tell that there was no shouting, no argumentative tones...just conversation.

To say the least, Josie was very surprised. 

-

Lizzie came to sit beside Hope, who shuffled just a little closer away to the edge of the bed. 

“I know that I haven’t been particularly kind to you,” Lizzie started, cursing inwardly when she failed to stop herself from rolling her eyes. “But I think what you did tonight was really...cool,” She shrugged.

Hope just frowned. 

Was this really her way of...apologising?

Hope couldn’t hold herself back.

“What the hell was that?” 

If Lizzie Saltzman was finally going to apologise to her, she wanted it to be unmistakable.

“Excuse me?” Lizzie scoffed, her hand coming to her chest like the comment had hurt her heart.

“Was that supposed to be an apology?”

“It was an apology.”

“Where was the ‘I’m sorry’?” Hope almost laughed at the entire ordeal.

Lizzie was at a loss. She opened her mouth to speak, only to clamp her jaw shut again.

“Okay, fine.” Lizzie finally huffed. She relaxed her shoulders, straightened her back and let her icy heart melt away. “I’m sorry, Hope - for everything.”

Hope had to bite back her grin; she didn’t want to ruin the moment by bursting out laughing at how foreign this felt. 

“I have been horrible to you, not just over these last few weeks but...probably for most of her lives,” Lizzie realised with a frown, like she was only just now noticing. “I guess, in a way, I could see how attached to you Josie was becoming. It scared me.”

Hope bowed her head for a moment.

“I don’t want you to hurt her.”

Lizzie sounded...desperate. 

When Hope glanced back up, she found that she looked it too - like she was pleading for Hope to hear her words and abide by them.

“Why would I ever do that?”

Lizzie shook her head, tilting it down. “I don’t know. Isn’t your switch like, halfway still?” She looked up again. 

Hope sighed. She wasn’t even entirely sure anymore. 

“I haven’t experienced what I know other vampires do when their switch comes back on,” She felt vulnerable all of a sudden, and seeked comfort in fidgeting with her fingers. “But I feel a lot more than what I did a few months ago.” 

Lizzie didn’t say anything. 

“I’m more self aware now,” Hope continued when she was met with silence. “I care again.”

Now, Lizzie was staring down at the floor.

“I care about Josie.” Hope adopted a softer tone and found herself moving closer to the siphoner. She wanted - no, she needed the validation. “Can’t you see that I’m more myself?”

After a lifetime had passed, Lizzie finally locked eyes with the tribrid again.

“Yeah,” She nodded. “I can - but that doesn’t mean that I’m not going to worry about my sister’s happiness.”

Hope understood that. In fact, she found herself admiring this side of Lizzie.

“I can’t promise to you that we’re never going to fight,” Hope ignored the side eye that Lizzie shot at her. “But I can promise you that I would never, ever intentionally hurt Josie.” Lizzie relaxed at that. “She’s the most perfect person that I’ve ever met. I’d never put myself in a position that could make me lose her.” 

Lizzie appeared to be digesting what Hope had said: analysing it, picking it apart, then swallowing it.

“Okay then,” She finally sighed, pushing herself forwards off of the bed. “In that case, you have my permission to court Josie.”

Hope visibly winced. “Please, don’t call it that.”

The crackling sound of the announcement speakers finding a signal distracted them. 

“This is your Head Master speaking,” Alaric announced, sounding somewhat frantic. 

Lizzie and Hope rushed to the door to get a better listen.

“There is a monster on campus."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i got a new laptop and it motivated me to write lol.
> 
> don't worry, the new monster isn't "the mournling" i ain't dumb
> 
> -f.  
> @lgbtfay


	32. Chapter 32

Hope and Lizzie flew out the dorm room, practically falling over each other in their own hurry. 

They walked side by side through the hallway that was getting more and more crowded by the second, and eventually wound up outside of Alaric’s office.

He swung the door open before they could knock.

“Girls,” He sighed, somewhat taken aback by their presence. “I assume you’re here for the monster.” Alaric ran a sweaty hand over his face, exasperated. 

“No, we’re here to get a new class schedule.” Lizzie huffed. “Of course we’re here for the monster.”

Alaric pulled his phone out of his pocket and began to toy with it. “I need to get all the younger Witches onto the school bus,” He locked eyes with Lizzie. “And you’re going to stay at a motel in Mystic Falls.”

Hope and Lizzie exchanged confused glances.

“What the Hell?” Hope finally butted in. “What’s going on?”

Alaric was back to doing whatever he had to do on his phone. “The monster is called The Embervine,” He slipped his phone away. “She’s an ancient Witch who’s here to try and consume the magic from the students at the school. Not only will that make her more powerful, but it’ll also increase her immortality if she targets younger students - like the kids.”

He paused for a moment, gathering his thoughts. “She’s more interested in targeting Witches, but she’ll take anything she can get.”

Hope felt a pool of worry beginning to flood her chest. “Well, where is Josie?” She looked over her shoulder and then over her other shoulder, only to find no trace of the girl in mind.

“I thought she was with the both of you?” Alaric’s face took on a ghostly shade of grey.

Lizzie took a deep breath, straightening her posture. “Do you mean to tell me that nobody knows where Josie is?” 

Her tone was unnervingly calm, and Hope could tell by the way the corner of her lip began to twitch that she was on the verge of a meltdown.

“Okay,” Hope stepped in quickly. “Let’s not jump to any conclusions. She could be in her room, listening to music and completely oblivious to what is going.”

She was quite proud of the way her theory seemed to release some tension in both people standing in front of her.

“I have to go and gather the kids - and all the other Witches.” Alaric finally stepped out from the doorway. "And any other students who want to evacuate.” 

He paused, eyebrows knitting together as he looked from Hope, to Lizzie, then back again. "You two go and find her."

Hope and Lizzie did exactly that.

Without needing to communicate further, the two of them stormed in the direction of the twins dorm room.

Somehow, the sea of students knew to form a pathway that the girls could easily maneuver through. 

The passersby tried not to stare.

Hope Mikaelson and Lizzie Saltzman were, arguably, the two most unpredictable students at the school.

They didn’t want to catch them on and off day. 

So the girls were able to make their way to the dorm room without too much bother. 

Hope swung the door open.

“Josie?” 

She glanced behind the door whilst Lizzie checked the bathroom, though they quickly concluded that Josie was not there.

“What do we do now?” Lizzie raised her arms, dropping them at her side in visible exasperation. 

Hope clenched her jaw, glancing at the open door in hopes of seeing the familiar brunette.

“Okay, it’s still not the time to freak out; we’ll end up not thinking clearly if we do that.” Hope continued to hide her own internal panic by soothing Lizzie. “We still have a lot of ground to work with.”

Through the open door, groups of movements frantically made their way through the hall with rucksack’s idly slung across their shoulders.

“And what if the Embervine has her?” Lizzie lowered her voice, like saying them loudly would manifest it somehow. 

“Then we should check the woods,” Hope took a deep breath. “And the wolf transformation cell.” 

Lizzie just nodded, then they left the dorm room and went their separate ways without even discussing who was checking what.

Hope had subconsciously decided that she’d check the transformation cell, and was already heading there when Jade swung around the corner and bumped  
shoulders with her - quite aggressively due to the speed the two of them were walking during the collation.

She was just about to apologise, until the pair of them locked eyes.

Hope took an offence stance whilst Jade brushed her hair back into place across her shoulder. 

“You’re in quite the hurry,” Jade commented.

“Yeah, well, I don’t know if you heard but there’s a monster on the loose.” Hope bit back a snarl, replacing it with a forced smile.

Jade seemed to pick up on the bitterness laced amongst her tone and scoffed at it. “Yeah, I heard.” She returned the wit. “You know if you’re looking for Josie, I’m pretty sure I saw her heading out about a half hour ago.”

“Heading out where?” Hope took a step forward. 

Jade shrugged. “I don’t know, just out of the front door - but not off campus."

“That’s really all that you can give me?”

“Hey,” Jade raised her hands defensively. “She’s your girlfriend, not mine.”

Hope pressed her tongue against her cheek. “Well, thanks for nothing.”

She turned on her heel without thinking twice about it. 

-

Hope finally made her way into the transformation bunker after battling her way through the crowds of students attempting to board the school buses outside.

There was a figure laying on the floor in the corner, curled into a ball.

From afar Hope could have sworn it was just a shadow of some kind, but upon closer inspection she was able to recognise a familiar curl of dark hair.

“Josie,” She practically threw herself against the bars of the cell, tugging on it in a desperate frenzy to get to the girl.

“Intermissium.” 

Before Hope could even fully register the voice coming from behind her, she crumbled to the floor.

A scream that she just about registered as her own ricocheted off of the walls.

It was a short burst, though.

She stared down at her legs, puffs of air leaving her nose at rapid speed at the sight of mutilated limbs. 

Hope knew that spell. It was a spell that brutally snapped or broke any bone than the antagonist wished.

Once her supernatural abilities kicked in, only seconds later, Hope finally gained back her breath and looked over at the figure standing in the doorway.

She guessed it was the Embervine based on their very ancient appearance (Hope got ‘Woman in Black’ vibes, but even more disheveled).

And her guess was emphasised by the fact that they had a hold of Lizzie by the hem of the shirt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys, happy new year! I have something I need to say.
> 
> i don’t know when the next update on here will be as I feel as though i’m in need of a twitter/ao3 detox. 
> 
> i was on a great high during the summer when i started this story, and i fell in love with the reaction that it got and validation it gave me. 
> 
> as things do, the heat from this died off and it’s left me feeling quite demotivated and i’ve began to undermine my abilities as a writer to produce good content. 
> 
> so, i think a break from social media is needed for awhile.
> 
> catch u on the flip side!
> 
> all the best.
> 
> -f.  
> @lgbtfay


	33. Chapter 33

Lizzie was unconscious; her skin almost completely drained of colour and her lips attiring a tinge of purple.

“Lizzie,” Hope whispered to herself.

How had the Embervine managed to get the both of them in such a short space of time?

“Don’t come any closer,” The Embervine warned, eerily calm, when Hope pried herself off of the ground and onto her feet.

Hope was quite surprised by how young the voice beneath the black veil sounded. 

Given the appearance, she was expecting some kind of scratchy, disintegrated tone to come out. 

“Okay,”

Hope decided on a calm, non-threatening approach. 

She was completely unprepared for this situation; she had no idea what the Embervine’s weaknesses were - or what its Achilles heel was.

She had to be smart about this.

Right now, they were just staring at each other. 

Hope started to slowly move herself away from the gate of the cell, just in case that was where the monster was waiting to go.

She thought it would be safer if Lizzie and Josie were locked away in a safe place whilst she had it out with the Embervine.

That didn’t happen, though.

Josie began to cough from inside the cell. 

Hope immediately spun around, her fingers clasping the bars of the gate. “Josie,” She hushed through the gaps.

Josie didn’t say a word, just slowly lifted herself upwards and tried to gather herself. 

Her eyes were struggling to adjust to the light. It hurt for her to open them, like it took every muscle in her body to do so. 

She had, quite literally, had the life drained out of her.

“You’re in my way,” The Embervine had taken one too many steps closer to Hope whilst her back was turned.

She placed her almost ossified hand onto the tribrid’s shoulder, forcing Hope to turn and look at her. 

Upon doing so, she fell right into the Embervine’s trap. 

Their mouths opened up as the monster began to suck the life and power out of the tribrid, who stood paralysed before her. 

Hope felt every inch of her muscles trying to fight back, but it was pointless. She was getting more and more lightheaded with every suction and was close to hitting the floor when the Embervine suddenly stopped.

She heard a crack, a squelch and then saw a pool of dark liquid forming to the left of the Embervine’s black dress.

The suction stopped as the monster slowly glanced down as the action, dropping Lizzie and Hope in the midst of it.

Hope stumbled backwards, coughing and spluttering before getting her awareness back and noticing who was standing behind the Embervine.

MG.

"There's no heart," She heard him whisper to himself before becoming distracted by the lifeless blonde on the ground.

He fell onto his knees in front of Lizzie and cupped her face.

“I think she’s just out of it,” Hope could just about speak. “Josie was the same way before, but she’s awake now.” She looked over her shoulder at said girl, who was still in dire need of care; albeit she was actually conscious now.

The Embervine still stood over them staring down at the liquid that was beginning to soak back up and fade away, Hope suddenly noticed.

“Um, MG.” She beckoned, pointing towards the magic happening before her. “We need to get them out of here.”

MG quickly swooped Lizzie up and placed her over his shoulder, whilst Hope used any remaining energy and power she had left to snap the lock on the cell.

Luckily, it fell to the floor after two hits and Hope was able to vamp her way to the frail siphoner in the corner and scoop her up.

-

Hope and MG fought through the crowds of gawking students in the hallway, eventually arriving safely at the twins dorm room and placing them on their designated beds.

“Okay, one of us has to go and find Dr Saltzman.” MG pulled the covers up and over Lizzie, letting them rest just below her chest.

“I’ll stay,” Hope decided easily, her eyes set on Josie’s hoary complexion. She’d fallen back unconscious in the time it took them to get to the dorm. “I’ll give them some of my blood and see what happens,”

MG nodded along abidingly. He took another look over his shoulder at Lizzie, before disappearing with a breeze.

Hope took a deep breath before she sat beside Josie, her hand coming to rest at the edge of the girl’s face. 

She let the tips of her fingers trail her jawline, and she did so very tenderly - like she was worried any amount of pressure would result in injury.

She stayed like this for only a matter of seconds, analysing every inch of Josie’s pale face; the way her lips were now slightly cracked and dry, the way the blush pink had almost completely vanished from her cheeks. 

Remembering what she was supposed to be doing here, Hope brought her wrist to her mouth and pierced it with ease. She didn’t even wince.

She held onto the back of Josie’s neck to guide her, and sighed in relief when she felt Josie’s lips part against her wrist.

“Come on, Jo.” She whispered encouragingly. Soon enough, she felt Josie beginning to suck.

It was almost instantly that colour started to settle back into her face; her lips beginning to redden (either from Hope’s blood, or her own being pumped back through her body at a steady pace).

Josie soon became conscious enough to furrow her eyebrows and splutter, pushing Hope’s wrist away from her mouth and then wiping the residue away like it was poison.

“Do you have to do that?” Josie’s voice was gravelly when she spoke, and she had to clear her throat a few times afterwards.

“You’re okay,” Hope grinned. 

Josie rolled onto her back and scanned the room, her eyes settling on Lizzie.

“Oh my God,” She flew herself into a sitting position. “Hope, you have to help her!” 

Josie practically pushed Hope off of the bed. She would have been offended if it had been a different circumstance.

She used the same open wound to place against Lizzie’s mouth - and Lizzie reacted the exact same way, although her disgust was more profound than Josie’s was when she came to.

She coughed dramatically, sticking her tongue out of her mouth and making strange noises like she was trying to get any remainder of Hope off her mouth.

“That was completely uncalled for,” 

Her voice came out scratched and husk - though her wit was still the same.

“Well, now that you’re both actually conscious.” Hope stood up. “We could do with your help killing the Embervine.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> only two more chapters left... what're you expecting?
> 
> thanks for sticking around !!! you make my heart smile. i love your comments and your kudos, the support really helps keep me motivated.
> 
> -f.  
> @lgbtfay


	34. Chapter 34

MG practically fell through the door moments later, almost breathless as his wide eyes scanned over the three girls. “Dr Saltzman is in the library researching.” 

Hope huffed, rubbing at her temples. They knew near to nothing about the Embervine, other than that it fed on supernaturals - they didn’t even know the level of threat they were dealing with.

“We need to try and act fast,” Hope began to pace the room. “This thing is still out there, and we don’t know just how dangerous it is.” 

The realisation of it was almost flooring. Hope hated feeling at a loss. 

“Dr Saltzman has evacuated everyone who wanted to leave,” MG told her in an attempt to console. “The only people here now are the four of us, and then Dr Saltzman and Landon-”

“Landon?” Hope spun around, hands pointed outwards like she was physically stopping him forming any other words. “Are you kidding me?” She almost laughed now.

MG just shrugged. “Look, I know he’s useless with this stuff most of the time but he said that he wanted to help with research.” 

“That’s about all he's good for,” Lizzie voiced from the other side of the room.

The sudden input caused Hope to lift her head, but her eyes landed on Josie instead of the other twin. 

Josie was staring right back at her with furrowed eyebrows and a perfect pout; but upon being noticed she cast her gaze downwards and fiddled with her bedsheets petulantly. 

Hope needed to get her head in the game. 

“Listen,” She turned back to face MG, who was alert and waiting for orders. “Let Alaric and Landon do their research and let us know ASAP when they find something useful.” 

MG nodded briskly. 

“We will search the school for the Embervine, and the twins…” She trailed off, glancing over at them. 

They weren’t really in a good state - still emotionally and physically exerted. Hope didn’t want to put them at any further risk.

Something on her face must have indicated that, because...

“Oh no,” Lizzie instantly argued, practically tossing herself out of her bed. “We are not just sitting up here like prisoners.”

“You’re not prisoners,” MG placed his hand on her arm. “This is for your own safety.” 

Lizzie almost scoffed, looking totally offended though nothing untoward was said. 

“They’re right, Lizzie.” Josie spoke up. “We’re completely drained.” She smiled tiredly. “Just promise that you will let us know when you find out her Achilles heel.” 

Hope pursed her lips, feeling somewhat conflicted for a reason unbeknownst to her. Saying “I’ll try my best,” was the best response she could give.

Josie didn’t seem overly satisfied with the statement, but accepted it anyway and patted the space beside her to beckon Lizzie.

MG and Hope left moments after that, not really sure on where they were heading but storming towards it anyway.

“We need to try and get her into the gym.” Hope said. “If she can sense power, we need to get all the supernatural beings into one room.”

MG approved of the motive with a nod. “But before that, we need to actually have a weakness in mind.” 

With that, they made their way towards the library.

-

Landon and Alaric stood with their heads embedded into a book; Landon stood on one side of the table and Alaric on the other.

The table in front of them was covered with an assortment of old hardback books. Some of them were opened up and midway through being read whilst others lay closed over in a pile.

When the library door was pushed open, Landon and Alaric spun around to look. 

MG and Hope quickly approached the duo with solemnity stares. “Do you have anything?” Hope asked, her arms folded across her chest.

Alaric sighed, his expression insinuating nothing very promising. “It looks like exhaustion and decapitation are our best bets.” He slammed the book in his hand shut and tossed it back onto the table. 

Hope frowned. “Those are the weaknesses of any Witch,” Her tone was agitated and unamiable as she stepped forward, leaning over to skim read the opened books. 

“That’s the thing,” Landon came to approach the table. “We were expecting something more given the fact that she has her own title, but she’s still just a witch.” He was confident in his statement, but spoke meekly when addressing Hope. He barely even looked her in the eye as he handed her the book from his hand.

Hope took it and began to read as he continued to talk. 

“She still has all the same strengths and powers as any other witch, though we expect her to be a quite a bit stronger.” He glanced over at Alaric, who just second his statement with a nod. 

It was quiet for a minute until Hope got done reading the first few sentences of the book. She didn’t really care enough for what it had to say, she just wanted a promising plan - so she tossed it to one side. 

“MG and I have a plan,” She told them, looking over her shoulder and beckoning him.

“We just wanted to make sure that we’d found a weakness before going ahead with this, but we thought we should get every supernatural being here into the gym so that she follows us there.” He began to explain. “Maybe, now that we know she has the same strengths as your average witch, Hope could have it out with her.” 

Hope was taken aback by the comment. “Wait, what?”

MG looked at Landon and Alaric, who had the same wide-eyed look on their faces as Hope. “I mean, I’m not saying it’s going to be easy but you are the tribrid. If anyone is strong enough to go head-to-head with her, it’s you.”

It fell silent. 

“Although she has the same strengths as a standard witch,” Alaric took over, taking a step towards her. “As Landon said, she could still be more powerful with these strengths. We’ll all understand if you decide this is something you’re not prepared to do.”

“You won’t have to have it out with her for long,” MG inputted again, subtly taking a separate stance. "Once you’re distracting her, I could attack from behind and decapitate her.” 

Hope put her head in her hands for a moment, needing to gather her thoughts. “Okay, okay.” She took advantage of the silence for a second before giving her answer. “I’m completely fine doing that.” 

“What are the main strengths of a witch?” Landon asked, his forehead creasing and a dumbfounded expression plastering his face. 

Alaric took the lead in answering. “It tends to be the usual spell casting, element control, telekinesis and channeling.” 

“Uh,” MG raised his hand almost comically. “Channeling?” 

“It’s the ability to channel one’s own energy and that of the world around them to perform magic.” Hope explained. “So, arguably, she could channel my energy and use it against me if she got the upperhand; sort of like what she’s already been trying to do to the students here.”

Landon cleared his throat exaggeratedly, making it painfully obvious that he was trying to get Hope’s attention before he addressed her. “Hope, that sounds like it could be really dangerous.”

She shrugged. “What other choice do we have?”

They knew that Hope was right, and therefore had nothing else to say to counter argue. 

So, the four of them were making their way towards the gym when MG gave a gentle tug on Hope’s arm.

“What about the twins?” He asked as lowly as possible, weary of the fact that Alaric was right behind them. "They're still just in their dorm."

“Three supernaturals in a room beats two supernaturals in one; the Embervine will be drawn to the room with the most power."

“Who’s the third?”

Hope side-eyed him. “Landon.” 

MG mumbled out a small ‘oh’ of realisation as they pushed open the door to the gym.

“So, what do we do now?” Alaric gave the room a once over, a few books tucked tightly beneath his arm just incase he came to need them again.

“Wait.” Hope shrugged and took a seat on one of the many benches. 

“And the girls are safe?” Alaric aimed the question at Hope, like they were her responsibility instead of his.

She couldn’t help but look at MG who just widened his eyes worriedly.

“They’re safe.” She smiled as promisingly as possible. She was sure they were.

Landon walked further into the room, observing the space. “So...we're just going to sit here?"

It felt ridiculous hearing it outloud, but waiting was the safest option. It was this or conduct a wild goose chase. 

“If her mission is to seek out supernaturals and absorb their energy and power, she will come to us.” Hope’s voice conveyed her confidence in the plan quite well; well enough that everyone in the room hushed for a while.

She wondered how the twins were doing.

How Josie was doing.

She didn’t get to think about it for too long, though.

“Oh boy,” Landon spoke hurriedly, catching the attention of the room as Hope rose from the bench.

He pointed towards the door which then flew open, revealing a disheveled looking witch in a black veil. 

-

The plan didn’t start off as well as they had hoped.

The Embervine was casting spells that Hope dodged, and vice versa. 

Having an audience on one side of the room sort of made Hope feel like she was in some ridiculous WWE Match. 

MG stood teetering on the sidelines, waiting for the right moment to jump in but being fully aware that Hope hadn’t worn the witch out to that extent just yet.

She made the mistake of glancing over at him, taking her eyes off the Embervine for just a minute, but that was all it took.

“Eiecit,” 

Hope was thrown through the air, landing on the other side of the room and banging her head against the wooden door.

She was quick to recover and was already back on her feet about to charge forward when the Embervine spoke again.

“Tractus Ad,”

Hope was being flung in the other direction before she could even realise it; and then she was hovering right in front of the Embervine.

The Witch opened up her mouth, the same way she had before, and began to absorb the power and energy from the tribrid.

MG sprinted in, but the Embervine dismissed him easily with a simple hand gesture and left him passed out on the floor beside her.

Landon and Alaric stood helplessly near the benches. What more could they do? 

If a tribrid and a vampire were struggling, what good would they be?

Hope could barely breathe now. She could feel the energy being drained from her core, deep in her chest and stomach. 

The world was getting a little fuzzy, so were her legs.

Everything began to tingle and she felt as though she could very easily drift out of consciousness if she stopped fighting the feeling. 

But she had to keep fighting. She had to try and exhaust the Embervine, like they needed.

So she kicked her arms and legs and tried to utter a spell from her strained throat. 

Her throat wasn't lubricated enough to actually form the words though, so she tried to use her supernatural strength - but it was literally being drained out of every inch of her body.

Hope was sure she heard the door slam against the wall behind it after being forcefully swung open; but she wasn’t sure. At this point, she was barely sure she was even still conscious.

There was a low buzzing in her head. It felt like there were a zillion elastic bands wrapped tightly around it. Her arms, hands, legs and feet felt cold and tingly.

She was still fighting it though, even more so when she heard a distant voice call out her name.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the second to last chapter !!! i thought we could do with some cheering up after that abysmal episode..
> 
> after struggling from writers block and hating the fucking life out of any chapter i wrote, i'm pleased to say that i'm actually satisfied with this one.
> 
> thank you to everyone who has continued to comment lovely little things and keep me feeling motivated. i read every single comment and they make me feel v v happy.
> 
> until next time,  
> \- f.  
> @lgbtfay


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